Longtime trial lawyer and former lawyer for Donald Trump, Alan Dershowitz, says the ex-president’s jury at his hush money trial in New York is bad news for his former client.
After three days of legal wrangling, a panel of seven men and five women has now been selected, which will assess his guilt or innocence in the coming weeks.
Dershowitz, 85, says the makeup of the jury members — which include a corporate lawyer, an investment banker, a software engineer and a teacher — suggests Trump will fare poorly.
“This is a bad jury for Donald Trump,” Dershowitz said Newsmax Friday.
He even goes so far as to say that they will almost certainly find Trump guilty and that “the best thing he will probably do is a hung jury.”
Alan Dershowitz, a longtime trial lawyer and former lawyer for Donald Trump, says the ex-president’s jury at his hush money trial in New York is bad news for his former client
After three days of legal wrangling, a panel of seven men and five women has now been selected, which will assess President Trump’s guilt or innocence in the coming weeks.
Dershowitz “can’t imagine” returning a not guilty verdict after discovering the media diet the jurors consume.
“I think it’s too much of a New York Times and TikTok jury. This may be the best you can do with a jury pool in New York, but it is not a good jury for Donald Trump.”
Each of the jurors was asked about their opinions of the former president, as well as the media they trusted.
When the jury foreman was asked where he gets his news from, he said, among other things, Dailymail.com.
Dershowitz, who was once part of the famed “Dream Team” that secured OJ Simpson’s acquittal and defended Trump during his impeachment trial, criticized other elements of the case that were unfavorable to Trump.
He said it was “not fair” that the prosecution was not forced to reveal the identities of their first three witnesses.
“You have the right to prepare, and if I were Trump’s lawyers, as soon as the name of the first question comes up, I would ask for a recess” and ask for several days to prepare questions prepare for cross-examination,” he said. .
Dershowitz also referred to the silence order imposed on Trump as “outrageously unfair” and against the spirit of America.
Dershowitz ‘cannot imagine’ returning a not guilty verdict against Trump after discovering the media diet the jurors consume
Judge Juan Merchan has ordered Trump not to assault potential jurors in the case.
The order prohibits Trump from “making public statements or directing others to make public statements about a prospective juror or any juror.”
The case centers on a $130,000 payment that Trump’s lawyer and personal fixer, Michael Cohen, made to porn actor Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 election to prevent her claims about a sexual encounter with Trump from becoming public.
Prosecutors say Trump covered up the true nature of the payments in internal records when his company reimbursed Cohen, who pleaded guilty to federal charges in 2018 and is expected to be a key witness for the prosecution.
Trump has denied having a sexual encounter with Daniels, and his lawyers argue that the payments to Cohen were legitimate legal fees.
Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying corporate records and has pleaded not guilty.
If convicted, he could face up to four years in prison, although it is not clear whether the judge would choose to put him behind bars.
After the jury was selected, Trump stepped out of the courtroom and expressed his frustration with the trial process, carrying a thick stack of newspaper clippings.
Judge Juan M. Merchan issued a gag order against Trump, which Dershowitz described as “outrageously unfair”
Former President Donald Trump, seated far left, watches as Judge Juan Merchan presides as jury panel members answer questions from the jury questionnaire in Manhattan Criminal Court Thursday
The former president read several headlines that declared the trial a “spectacle and outrage” and that it showed America was a “third world country.”
He flipped through it and said, “The whole world is watching this scam in New York. Of all the cuttings I have not seen one that says it is a good test. It’s politics. It is a pity.
‘I’ve been sitting here for days now, from morning until late at night, in that freezing cold room. It’s freezing there. Everything for this. It’s very unfair.’
Several other jurors had to be dismissed Friday before the box was finalized with the 12 that will decide Trump’s fate.
It highlighted the unprecedented pressure surrounding the first ever criminal trial of a former US president.
One juror who had to be dismissed was a grandfather and IT consultant who previously told the court that he finds Trump “fascinating.”
“He walks into a room and sets people in motion and I find that very interesting,” the man said during jury selection. ‘One man can do all this. Wow. He makes things interesting.’
After he was admitted to the jury on Tuesday, details of a possible past arrest came to light.
Former President Donald Trump awaits the start of proceedings during jury selection at Manhattan Criminal Court, Thursday, April 18, 2024 in New York
Lawyers have discovered that he may have removed conservative political posters in the 1990s.
On Thursday, Judge Merchan spoke with the juror for about four minutes and then excused him.
Later, a female juror had said “after sleeping on it” that she was “concerned about her ability to be fair and impartial.”
The woman was then brought before the court and asked by Judge Merchan to explain herself.
The woman said: ‘Yesterday alone, friends, colleagues and family had pushed things onto my phone, calling into question my identity as a juror.
“I don’t believe I can be fair and unbiased at this point and not let outside influence influence my decision-making in the courtroom.”
Judge Merchan said: ‘I’m sorry you went through that’ and apologized to her.
He added that he expects opening statements in the landmark case to be made as early as next week.
The jury selection process has moved faster than expected and Trump has complained that Judge Merchan is “rushing” the process.