A criminal trial against the former president Donald Trump began Monday, April 15 with jury selection and an outline of what’s to come for the case.
The jury selection process continued Tuesday, and the social media accounts of potential nominees took center stage.
What happened: The first seven jurors in Trump’s criminal trial were chosen Tuesday, as part of the trial that will decide whether the former president is guilty of alleged cash payments to an adult actress Stormy Daniels.
Judge Juan Mercan swore in jurors who made it through the approval process as part of a long process that saw dozens of potential nominees rejected due to their failure to be impartial in the process or for old and subsequent social media posts revealed in court, such as reported by NBC News.
Jurors were told to return Monday, April 22 at 9:30 a.m. ET with Merchan assuming the full jury would be selected by then. A total of 18 approved jurors with 12 jurors and six alternates are needed for the case.
Although names and ages are not public, court reporters provided brief descriptions of the seven jurors, which are as follows:
Male: Works as a waiter and in sales, loves the outdoors, gets his news from the New York Times, Fox News and MSNBC
Woman: works as an oncology nurse, is engaged and loves spending time with family and friends, receives news from the New York Times, CNN, Google and Facebook
Male: Works as a lawyer, enjoys running and hiking, gets news from the New York Times, Google, and the Wall Street Journal
Male: Works in IT training and consulting, is married and has grandchildren, receives news from the New York Daily News, New York Times, Google and
Female: Teacher, loves to travel, gets news from TikTok and Google
Woman: Software engineer, receives news from the New York Times, Facebook, TikTok and Google
Gender undisclosed at press time: The North Carolina-born attorney is a civil litigator, lives on the Upper East Side and listens to “Car Talk.”
Merchan also brought another group of 96 prospective jurors who will return to the courthouse to resume the jury selection process on Thursday at 9:30 a.m. ET. Potential jurors were told not to discuss the case with anyone or read news stories related to the case.
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Social media takes center stage: A large number of potential jurors said they get their news from various social media platforms such as Meta platforms Inc HALFFacebook owned, Tick tock AND Xformerly known as Twitter and owned by Elon Musk.
While potential jurors were asked where they got their news from, previous social media posts also came into play by lawyers in the case as they decided who could be impartial in Trump’s trial.
Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche challenged several potential jurors on social media posts.
“Trump indicted in records case, no one is above the law,” were comments from one potential juror on social media that Blanche shared in court. Merchan struck the juror candidate for just cause.
Another juror was questioned about an anti-Trump post her husband made on social media in 2015. Merchan allowed the juror to remain in the trial and told Blanche that jurors should be asked if they can be honest and impartial instead of resurrect old arguments. post.
However, there were old posts that led to the dismissal, including a 2017 Facebook post made by a potential juror against Trump.
“Good news!! Trump lost his court battle over his illegal travel ban!!!. Take him out and lock him up,” the 2017 post read.
A social media post became a controversial topic as to what was meant.
“I have to get in the car and spread the cheers by honking the horn. There’s a real party on 96th Street,” the person wrote.
Blanche was an exception as the position was appointed the Saturday following the 2020 presidential election Joe Biden defeat Trump. Blanche told Merchan that the posts showed the juror expressing his opinion about Trump, which led to further clarification from the juror.
“I think I was going to my car to park on the alternate side of the street. And there were people honking in the street,” the prospective juror said, comparing the event to people cheering for health care workers during the coronavirus pandemic. COVID-19.
This potential jury swap led to the X EndWokeness account publication that “the juror who joined a Biden election victory parade does NOT qualify off the jury against Trump.”
“The reason? Because the juror claims he thought it was a celebration of essential workers….” says account X.
The post generated a response from Elon Muskwho responded, “It doesn’t seem right.”
Social media was the star of the second day of the trial and could be so again Thursday when more old social media posts from potential jurors are found. The trial could serve as a reminder that old social media posts don’t disappear and could one day be made public again.
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