New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan “abruptly” dismissed a previously approved juror on Thursday after she raised concerns about her identity becoming public, according to court reporters.
Court reporters published descriptions of the jurors after the judge sat seven of them upon going through the selection process. The potential jurors are asked 42 questions, and their social media accounts are scrutinized.
“A juror who had been selected for Donald J. Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan was abruptly excused on Thursday, demonstrating the challenges of picking a jury to decide the fate of the polarizing former president,” the New York Times reported:
The woman told the judge overseeing the case that she had developed concerns about her identity becoming public. Although the judge has kept prospective jurors’ names private, they have disclosed their employers and other identifying information in court.
After excusing her, the judge, Juan M. Merchan, instructed reporters to no longer detail where a prospective juror works. “I have the legal authority to do it,” the judge said of blocking the news media from reporting identifying employer information.
Former President Donald Trump’s unprecedented criminal trial began Monday morning with jury selection. Thursday is the third day of the process, which could wrap up early next week. A total of 18 jurors are required
Below is an Axios description of the seven jurors chosen on Tuesday:
1. The foreman, who works in sales, lives in Harlem but is originally from Ireland.
2. A native New Yorker who’s an oncology nurse.
3. A corporate lawyer originally from Oregon.
4. A self-employed IT consultant who lives on the Lower East Side but grew up in Puerto Rico.
5. A teacher and lifelong New Yorker. She was the only juror in the box who said they didn’t know Trump was charged in three other cases.
6. A software engineer who works for Disney.
7. A lawyer who lives on the Upper East Side.
Only about one-third of U.S. adults believe Trump did something illegal regarding the case, an AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll found Tuesday.
The case is New York v. Trump, No. 71543-23, in the New York Supreme Court for New York County.
Wendell Husebo is a political reporter with Breitbart News and a former GOP War Room Analyst. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality. Follow Wendell on “X” @WendellHusebø or on Truth Social @WendellHusebo.
