Alan Dershowitz, a longtime trial lawyer and former lawyer for Donald Trump, says the former president’s jury in his New York hush money trial is bad news for his former client.
After three days of legal wrangling, a panel of seven men and five women has been selected who will assess his guilt or innocence over the coming weeks.
Dershowitz, 85, says the makeup of the jury — which includes a corporate lawyer, an investment banker, a software engineer and a teacher — suggests Trump will do poorly.
‘This is a bad jury for Donald Trump,’ Dershowitz said newsmax Friday.
He goes so far as to say that Trump will almost certainly be found guilty and that “the best he’ll probably do is a hung jury.”
Alan Dershowitz, a longtime trial lawyer and former lawyer for Donald Trump, says the former president’s jury in his New York hush money trial is bad news for his former client.
After three days of legal wrangling, a panel of seven men and five women has been selected who will evaluate President Trump’s guilt or innocence over the coming weeks.
Dershowitz “can’t imagine” they would return a not guilty verdict after discovering the media diet jurors consume.
‘I think it’s too much of a jury on the New York Times and TikTok. “Maybe this is the best thing to do with a New York jury, but it is not a good jury for Donald Trump.”
Each of the jurors was questioned about their opinions about the former president, as well as what media they trusted.
The jury president, when asked where he gets his news, told Dailymail.com, among other outlets.
Dershowitz, who was once part of the famous ‘Dream Team’ that won OJ Simpson’s acquittal and defended Trump in his impeachment trial, criticized other elements of the case unfavorable to Trump.
He said it was “not fair” that the prosecution was not forced to reveal the identity of its first three witnesses.
“They have a right to prepare, and if I were Trump’s lawyers, as soon as the name of the first question is known, I would call a recess” and ask for several days to prepare the questions for cross-examination,” he said.
Dershowitz also called the gag order imposed on Trump “shockingly unfair” and contrary to the spirit of the United States.
Dershowitz ‘can’t imagine’ a not guilty verdict against Trump after discovering the media diet consumed by jurors
Judge Juan Merchán ordered Trump not to attack potential jurors in the case.
The order prohibits Trump from “making or directing others to make public statements about any prospective juror or any juror.”
The case centers on a $130,000 payment that Trump’s personal lawyer and intermediary, Michael Cohen, made shortly before the 2016 election to porn actress Stormy Daniels to prevent her claims of a sexual encounter with Trump from becoming public. .
Prosecutors say Trump concealed 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 star 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 expenses.
Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records and has pleaded not guilty.
He could face up to four years in prison if convicted, although it is unclear whether the judge would choose to put him behind bars.
After the jury was chosen, Trump walked out of the courtroom and expressed his frustration with the trial process, wielding a large stack of press clippings.
Judge Juan M. Merchán has issued a gag order against Trump that Dershowitz described as “scandalously unfair”
Former President Donald Trump, seated far left, watches with Judge Juan Merchan presiding as members of the jury panel answer jury questionnaire questions in Manhattan Criminal Court on Thursday.
The former president read some of the headlines that declared the trial a “spectacle and outrage” and that it demonstrated that the United States was a “third world country.”
Flipping through them, he said: ‘The whole world is watching this New York scam. In each of the cuttings, I have not seen any that say it is a good test. It’s political. It is a shame.
“I have been sitting here for days, from morning until night, in that freezing room. Freezing there. All for this. It is very unfair.”
Several other jurors had to be dismissed Friday before the panel of 12 who will determine Trump’s fate was finalized.
It highlighted the unprecedented pressures surrounding the first criminal trial of a former US president.
One of the jurors who was dismissed was a grandfather and IT consultant who had previously told the court he found Trump “fascinating.”
“He walks into a room and makes people angry and I find that really interesting,” the man said during jury selection. ‘One man can do all this. Wow. He makes things interesting.’
After he was inducted into the jury Tuesday, details of a possible prior arrest came to light.
Former President Donald Trump awaits the start of the trial during jury selection at Manhattan Criminal Court, Thursday, April 18, 2024, in New York.
Lawyers discovered he may have removed conservative political signs in the 1990s.
On Thursday, Judge Merchan spoke to the jury for about four minutes and then excused him.
Later, a juror had “relayed after sleeping through the night” that she “had concerns about her ability to be fair and impartial.”
The woman was then brought before the court and Judge Merchan asked her to explain herself.
The woman said: ‘Just yesterday friends, colleagues and family pushed things onto my phone, questioning my identity as a juror.
“I don’t think at this point I can be fair and impartial and not let outside influence affect my decision making in the courtroom.”
Judge Merchan said: “I’m sorry you went through that” and apologized to her.
He added that he anticipates that initial statements in this historic case will be given next week.
The jury selection process has moved faster than expected and Trump has complained that Judge Merchan is “rushing” the trial.