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A possible juror in former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial in New York City spoke to the media shortly after she was excused from the pool, highlighting the “serious” temper contained in the courtroom.
“Definitely serious,” former potential juror Kara McGee, who works in cybersecurity, mentioned on Tuesday. “…Everyone was really taking it upon themselves to step in and do civic duty here, regardless of what people came into it thinking about the defendant.”
McGee mentioned that she instructed the court docket she might function juror in an unbiased method, whereas noting in her remark to the media it might be “very difficult for anyone really in this country to not come to this without prior opinions.”
“We all have prior opinions on the defendant, unless you’ve been living in a cardbox,” she mentioned. McGee mentioned she was excused from the jury pool on account of scheduling conflicts along with her employment in cybersecurity.
“I’m not a fan,” McGee added of her private ideas on Trump. “During COVID-19, I lived with someone who was immunocompromised, and I think his handling of COVID-19 was abysmal,” she mentioned.
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Kara McGee speaks to members of the media outdoors of the Manhattan Criminal Court in New York on Tuesday, April 16, 2024. McGee was excused from serving on the jury for the prison trial in opposition to former President Donald Trump on account of her job in cybersecurity and being unable to take off work for that lengthy. (Probe-Media for Fox News Digital )
The trial kicked off Monday with a pool of 96 jurors, earlier than roughly 50 had been excused on the primary day for saying they might not be neutral within the case. An extra 9 had been eliminated Monday for different causes. Of that pool, an estimated 35 candidates remained on Tuesday morning, with 14 of these excused by early Tuesday afternoon.
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McGee mentioned two of the questions requested of potential jurors most clearly indicated how they felt about Trump and the case.
“One of which is: Do you have opinions about the ability for a former sitting president to be tried in a court of law? Which I think the way people answered that showed how they felt about case,” she mentioned.
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“The other one was: Do you have any opinions about legal limits for campaign finance donation amounts? Which I believe was another one that was kinda meant to gauge feelings about the particular case,” she mentioned.
McGee mentioned she did make eye contact with Trump as she was excused from the trial.
“I looked at him after I had finished giving final answer … I glanced over at him again, and made eye contact with him, and have no idea what he thought at that moment,” she mentioned of her interplay with Trump.
A court docket sketch depicts the second day of former President Donald Trump’s prison trial in Manhattan Criminal Court on Tuesday, April 16, 2024. Jury selection for the alleged hush money case stays ongoing. (Christine Cornell)
Tuesday is the second day of trial within the hush money case, which marks the primary time a former president has stood trial on prison fees.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg introduced final 12 months that Trump was charged with 34 counts of falsifying enterprise information. The fees stem from the 2016 election cycle, when former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen paid former pornographic actor Stormy Daniels $130,000 to allegedly silence her claims she had an extramarital affair with Trump again in 2006.
Kara McGee speaks to members of the media outdoors of the Manhattan Criminal Court in New York on Tuesday, April 16, 2024. McGee was excused from serving on the jury for the prison trial in opposition to former President Donald Trump on account of her job in cybersecurity and being unable to take off work for that lengthy. (Probe-Media for Fox News Digital )
TRUMP CALLS HUSH MONEY TRIAL ‘ASSAULT ON AMERICA’ AS CASE OFFICIALLY KICKS OFF
Prosecutors say the Trump Organization reimbursed Cohen for the cost to Daniels and falsely recorded the funds as authorized bills. Prosecutors are working to show that Trump falsified the information with an intent to commit or conceal a second crime, which is a felony.
Trump has repeatedly denied the affair and pleaded not responsible to the costs.
Trump spoke to the media earlier Tuesday morning, forward of getting into the courtroom, the place he railed in opposition to presiding Judge Juan Merchan as a “conflicted” choose.
Court sketch displaying Former President Donald Trump in Manhattan Criminal Court earlier than Justice Juan Merchan, Monday, April 15, 2024. Trump is dealing with fees stemming from so-called “hush money” funds made to grownup movie actress, Stormy Daniels within the lead-up to the 2016 Presidential election. (Christine Cornell)
“We have a Trump-hating judge. We have a judge who shouldn’t be on this case. He’s totally conflicted. But this is a trial that should never happen. It should have been thrown out a long time ago,” Trump mentioned Tuesday morning.
Former US President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media at Manhattan prison court docket in New York, US, on Monday, April 15, 2024. Jury selection beings Monday in Trump’s prison trial the place he faces 34 felony counts of falsifying enterprise information as a part of an alleged scheme to silence claims of extramarital sexual encounters throughout his 2016 presidential marketing campaign. (Michael Nagle/New York Post/Bloomberg by way of Getty Images)
“It’s a trial that is being looked upon and looked at all over the world. … They’re looking at, analyzing it. Every legal pundit, every legal scholar said this trial is a disgrace,” he added.
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The trial is anticipated to final at the very least six weeks, with jury selection anticipated to final at the very least a week.
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