With a jury of 12 now seated, we are just days away from opening statements in the trial of Donald Trump, a key moment in what is already a landmark case.
After some early drama, resulting in the dismissal of two previously seated jurors, Justice Juan Merchan swore in 12 Manhattanites today, completing the panel that will be asked to render a verdict in the first criminal trial of a former American president.
“We have our jury,” said the judge at 4:35 p.m.
Merchan has signaled that he wants lawyers for both sides to prepare their opening statements for Monday morning.
There could still be roadblocks: Several alternates remain to be selected tomorrow, and as this morning’s loss of two jurors illustrates, jurors can sometimes be excused after they have already been seated.
Still, during voir dire this week, prosecutors and the defense have given some hints about what their opening statements and subsequent arguments will be. Voir dire is the part of jury selection in which lawyers directly question potential jurors, trying to detect any beliefs or biases that could help or harm their cases.
Joshua Steinglass, a prosecutor with the Manhattan district attorney’s office, quickly mentioned the elephant in the room (an appropriate metaphor, it would seem, for the presumptive Republican nominee for president).
