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The number of seated jurors dropped to 6 this morning. Here's what to know
We're down to six empaneled jurors in former President Donald Trump'scriminal hush money trial, and another batch of potential members is currently under consideration.
Here are some of the key developments so far today:
- A woman who was already empaneled to the jury expressed concerns that part of her identity was made public by the media.
- Judge Juan Merchan excused her and urged journalists to limit their physical descriptions of jurors.
- Merchan also ruled media outlets cannot publish the jurors' answers to question 3 on the questionnaire, which inquires about their current and past employers.
- Meanwhile, prosecutors say Trump has violated his gag order seven more times, pointing to posts online and calling the situation "ridiculous."
- Prosecutors have also called into question the truthfulness of one empaneled juror's answers to questions about their past, and that juror has been called back to court today.
Court is in a break
Court is now in a 15-minute break.
Trump is craning his head to get good view of potential jurors as they speak
Former President Donald Trump appears engrossed with potential jurors seated in the jury box as they give their answers to the questionnaire, according to reporters in the courtroom.
He is leaning way back in his chair as he cranes his head to get a good view of them as they speak.
— From pool reports
Legal analyst says jury selection is "heading in the wrong direction"
From CNN's Antoinette Radford
Legal analyst Jennifer Rodgers has told CNN the events of Thursday morning's juror selection, during which one woman was excused because she said she had been identified by friends, family and colleagues was “very unusual."
Speaking to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, Rodgers said jury selection was “going backward." We had 7 jurors as of first thing this morning, now we have 6 and maybe even five because one of the jurors didn’t turn up," she said.
"So, we’re heading in the wrong direction in terms of getting this jury complete.”
Attorneys will have the opportunity to question 18 potential jurors as the selection process continues
From CNN's Maureen Chowdhury
The jury selection process in the hush money trial against Donald Trump is proving to be difficult, as Judge Juan Merchan, prosecutors and Trump attorneys question a new panel of people.
CNN's Kara Scannell explains what happens once 18 jurors are in the box.
"They're going to build out the little profiles for the first 18 jurors in the box. Once they see 18, meaning they've gone through the questionnaire and they don't believe any need to be excused" the attorneys will have their chance to find out more about the jurors.
The prosecution and Trump's lawyers will each have 30 minutes to question the panel of jurors.
Scannell noted that what we've seen during this part of the jury selection process is that the prosecution is trying to get to the actual issue in the case by asking questions like can the jurors believe someone who has previously lied under oath or if they can look past someone's job as an adult film actor.
Meanwhile, Trump's lawyers have been asking questions that are more geared toward how people feel about the former president. "Trying to unearth if there was a hidden bias, subconscious bias, against him," Scannell said.
Remember: Ultimately, 12 New Yorkers and likely six alternates will need to be selected.
Prospective jurors say they've read Trump and Cohen's books
A group of potential jurors are being questioned by the judge now. Here's how things are playing out at the moment:
- The prospective juror in seat three said he's an investment banker and follows Donald Trump's and Michael Cohen on social media. He said he has read Trump's book "The Art of the Deal."
- The woman in seat four said she works in publishing and read several pages of Cohen's book "Disloyal" for business reasons.
- The juror in seat five said she is a retired university administrator who has also read "The Art of the Deal" decades ago. She's a long-time subscriber to the New York Times, "mostly for the crossword puzzle."In a lighter moment, she couldn't get the microphone to work, and when the court officer said "testing," it didn't work, prompting laughter in the courtroom.
- The juror in seat six also said he read "The Art of the Deal." He said he has feelings about how Trump's being treated in this case but added they won't affect his ability to be fair.
- The juror in seat seven is a security engineer with a high school diploma. He's married with three kids. He doesn't have social media.
Potential juror says she doesn't follow news
Another prospective juror says she is a stay-at-home mom with three kids. She's originally from Colorado and is not married. She used to teach and has a master's degree. She says she does not follow the news.
Juror who works in law stresses her knowledge of the case: "It's hard to unring a bell"
A prospective juror who says she works for a law firm said she has previously discussed the legal merits of Donald Trump's case with coworkers when she worked as a law clerk.
At one point, after a long pause and a deep sigh, she said she thinks she can be fair.
She reiterated her knowledge of this case several times:"It's hard to unring a bell," she said.
Trump looks at prospective juror and judge during questioning
As the first prospective juror is answering questions from the judge, Donald Trump looked over at her for a while. He then turned his gaze back to the judge.
