First jurors sworn in after judge's stern warning to Trump
With Kayla Epstein, Madeline Halpert and Nada Tawfik reporting from court in New York
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With Kayla Epstein, Madeline Halpert and Nada Tawfik reporting from court in New York
Live Reporting
Edited by Brandon Livesay and Phil McCausland
All times stated are UK
Juror excused for Facebook post saying 'lock him up'
Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court
We've just seen yet another juror excused.
A creative director who lives in Midtown, posted on Facebook criticising one of Trump's policies while in office.
Justice Merchan says if the post ended there, the juror could stay on.
But he also wrote: "Lock him up" - referring to Trump.
The juror is excused.
Judge says line of questioning is 'really problematic'
Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court
Justice Merchan is reprimanding Trump's lawyers again, after his team claims another one of the jurors lied about not having an opinion on the former president.
He says the lawyer's question about whether jurors like Trump is "really problematic".
"The answer to that question could refer to the way he dresses, the way he talks, whether he was good president or a bad president," he says.
"We don’t even know that it actually goes to the issue of the case."
Trump's team lose first challenge
Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court
Justice Merchan has denied Trump's team's first challenge to a prospective juror.
He says he thought she provided "reasonable explanations" for all of her social media posts.
She will still be considered as a prospective juror.
Potential juror shared video of New Yorkers celebrating Trump's election loss
Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court
Prior to Trump being reprimanded, his lawyers were arguing with the judge about whether a prospective juror may be biased against the former president.
They said that juror - a woman in her 30s or 40s who lives on the Upper West Side - posted "extremely hostile" videos showing celebrations of Trump losing the election in 2020.
Justice Merchan said it was unclear if she took the video - or what exactly is being celebrated.
But there's enough concern to bring the juror back in and let Trump's legal team question her.
He cautioned Trump's team that it was not a cross-examination.
When Trump's lawyers pressed her on why she posted the video, she said she simply liked that it was a celebration in New York City.
Trump reprimanded by judge for muttering at potential juror
Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court
As Todd Blanche, Donald Trump’s lawyer, was questioning a prospective juror, Justice Merchan abruptly cut in.
Trump was audibly saying something and gesturing in front of the jury, Justice Merchan said.
“I won’t tolerate that,” he said. “I will not have any jurors intimidated in this courtroom. I want to make that crystal clear.”
He told Blanche to take a moment and speak to his client.
After the interruption, Blanche returns to the subject of the contested juror.
Lawyers look at social media accounts of potential jurors
Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court
We're back in court and we're hearing complaints from Trump's lawyer, Todd Blanche.
He said over lunch, they've been looking over the social media posts of prospective jurors.
He says those posts conflict with what they've said in court today.
Court back in session
The second day of jury selection is about to resume following a lunch break.
A reminder of what this is all about
In case you’re coming to this case fresh, here’s a quick recap.
Former US President Donald Trump has been charged with business fraud over hush-money payments to former adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Daniels claims she and Trump had sex, and that she accepted $130,000 (£104,500) from his former lawyer before the 2016 election in exchange for her silence about the encounter.
Prosecutors allege Trump had his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, make the payments, and then fraudulently recorded the transaction in his company’s books as legal expenses. Those legal expenses were in fact reimbursement payments to Cohen for the alleged hush money.
Since the allegations surfaced in 2018, the former president has denied any sexual involvement with Daniels.
He's facing 34 counts of fraud under campaign finance laws, and has pleaded not guilty to all of them.
Trump keeps close eye as jurors say they can return 'guilty' verdict
Let's take a quick look back while court is on lunch.
Former President Donald Trump has kept a close eye on the prospective jurors when they were questioned by prosecutor Joshua Steinglass earlier today.
He looked directly at the box as each prospective juror answered "yes" when asked by Steinglass whether they could return a guilty verdict.
Part of Steinglass's questioning winding up to that important question appeared to annoy Trump's attorneys.
He asked whether they could follow the logic that if someone asks another person to commit a crime on their behalf, then they are responsible. To clarify the question, he used the example of a husband using a hitman to kill his wife.
That didn't please the defence team.
What's happened so far in the case?
Since court is at lunch, here’s a quick recap of what has happened since the start of the case.
Legal analyst Kelly Hyman says Trump trial is a 'historic' event
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The criminal trial of former US President Donald Trump is "history in the making", according to trial lawyer and political analyst Kelly Hyman.
Speaking with BBC News after the first day of the trial, Hyman said it is likely this is the only one of Trump's multiple criminal cases that will go to trial before the presidential election in November.
"So this trial is key. This can make a difference in our 2024 election," she said.
Hyman said there could be "significant ramifications" from this trial, even potential jail time for Trump.
"According to recent polls, if he is in fact convicted, then that could potentially sway people in the 2024 election."
It all comes down to jury selection, the process we are following today, for a second day.
Hyman outlined how we've already seen dozens of jurors be excused because they could not be impartial.
We're breaking for lunch
Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court
After a long morning of jury selection, we're now breaking for lunch.
It's been an eventful day so far, with several jurors dismissed for scheduling reasons as well as potential biases from the original batch of 96 people.
We will soon move onto the next process of challenges. During this time, both the defence and the Manhattan District Attorney's Office will be able to dismiss jurors they have concerns about.
Joshua Steinglass, a prosecutor with the DA's office, has been testing prospective jurors about whether they can set aside political opinions and see beyond some of the "baggage" certain witnesses have.
We will continue this process until we have 12 impartial jurors and several alternates.
Trump must sit quietly as jurors provide him personal feedback
Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court
At times, it feels like the former president is being talked about as if he's not even in the room.
Trump is sitting just feet away as his lawyer Todd Blanche and prosecutors grill each potential juror for their thoughts on the former real estate mogul.
He is clearly listening deeply as prospective jurors say they find Trump "fascinating", "frustrating", or - in some cases - they don't think much about him at all.
Let's not forget that this is a man who, over the years, has shown he is deeply attuned to how people feel about him. Now he's facing regular Americans who are providing some unique forms of personal feedback.
Some jurors say that they both liked and disliked aspects of his presidency, or have family members with stronger feelings about him.
One woman just said: "My mother said, be nice.”
For now, Trump is keeping his reactions to a minimum.
First round of juror questions wraps up
Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court
Both Trump's legal team and prosecutors are finished questioning the first round of jurors.
Justice Merchan orders the jurors to step outside while each team reviews their notes and decides who to dismiss.
It could take "a few minutes" he says.
Half of Americans say Trump unfit for presidency if convicted, poll says
Half of US adults said in an Associated Press poll that Trump's conviction in the hush-money case would render the presumptive Republican nominee for president unfit to return to the White House.
That view is supported by 81% of Democrats, 47% of independents and 15% of Republicans.
It is worth noting that the poll says only about one third of respondents think Trump actually did something illegal in this hush-money case.
If we look at his other three criminal cases, the poll says that more than half of respondents think the former president acted illegally.
The poll was from a group of 1,204 adults and was conducted between April 4-8, 2024.
Possible juror tells court he used to watch The Apprentice
Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court
Todd Blanche, one of Trump's lawyers, is pressing jurors about their views on the former president.
One prospective juror refuses to share his opinion, so Blanche keeps pressing him.
"If I were sitting next to you in a bar, I'd tell you," he responds.
But he says his views on the former president are irrelevant to the case.
"He's a defendant. That's all he is."
Another prospective juror tells the court he was a fan of The Apprentice, Trump's reality television show, when he was in high school.
Trump no longer wants to join courtroom sidebars
After the prospective jurors left the courtroom during a 10 minute recess, Justice Merchan said the defence team had told him Donald Trump no longer wanted to assert his Antommarchi rights.
That right allows defendants to be present during any sidebar questioning about the impartiality of potential jurors.
The judge asked Trump directly if that was correct and the former president affirmed that it was.
This all happened during that 10 minute break. We're back into the questioning of potential jurors now.
Trump's lawyer takes control of questioning
Trump's gaze is fixated on his lawyer, Todd Blanche, who is beginning to question the prospective jurors.
Blanche says he knows most people have already formed an opinion on Donald Trump.
He says jurors won't offend anyone by sharing their honest view on him and the case.
"Can you talk a little bit more about your opinion of President Trump?" he asks.
One prospective juror says she doesn't really have one.
Prosecutor's questioning sharpens
Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court
Court is back again after that quick break.
So far we have seen Joshua Steinglass of the Manhattan District Attorney's office ask the 18 potential jurors in the jury box whether they can judge the case fairly.
One by one, the panel pass a microphone back and forth to answer Steinglass’ questions.
Sometimes, he calls on specific jurors, perhaps ones who offered answers to their questionnaires that he feels need further probing. Other times, he offers them the chance to speak up.
Does anyone have strong feelings about Trump that they can’t set aside during the trial? Can they decide the verdict based solely on the facts, evidence and the judge's instructions?
He notes that several witnesses in this case might have “baggage” – including Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal lawyer, and Stormy Daniels, an adult film star.
“Will you keep an open mind… before you decide whether or not to believe them?” he asks.
Several potential jurors says they won't have any trouble. One even emphasises that she doesn't even "really know what exactly this case is about".
Excused juror says nearly everyone has feelings about Trump
Nada Tawfik
Reporting from court
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Kara McGee – a 29-year-old who works in cybersecurity - says she was “very nervous” and trying not to stutter when answering the questions.
She was excused because the time commitment would’ve been impossible with her work obligations.
Nevertheless, she believes she could’ve been impartial and wishes she could have served.
She told us that unless someone has lived in a cardboard box, they all have prior opinions of Donald Trump.
For her personally, though, the right to a fair trial in this country is more important than any feelings she has of him.
She says she is no fan of Donald Trump.