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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
Inside Trump’s first day on trial in Manhattan criminal court
By Jeremy Herb, CNN
Updated:
7:41 PM EDT, Mon April 15, 2024
Source: CNN
Donald Trump has been inside a half-dozen courthouses over the past
year, but he had a new experience walking into a : a half-empty room.
The former president slowly walked through the cavernous and dingy
courtroom, past six empty rows of benches – set aside for prospective
jurors – giving a quick glance to the six reporters sitting in the
back row before sauntering to the front of the room and taking his seat
at the defense table.
The vacant rows served as a reminder to Trump that he’s in a
different setting now that he’s a criminal defendant for the first
time. By the afternoon, the courtroom was packed full with 96 jurors
– some of whom may be on the jury who will hear the hush money
trial against the Republican presumptive presidential nominee.
Trump only spoke three times during Monday’s session, acknowledging
to the judge he understood his rights as a criminal defendant.
Throughout the day Trump often engaged with his attorneys, whispering
to them and sharing notes as they debated motions with the Manhattan
District Attorney’s Office.
Trump also sat back at times and closed his eyes as slogged through the
jury pool and asked up to 42 questions of each prospective juror.
While Trump didn’t have a platform inside the courtroom, he didn’t
take long to make his feelings known when he left for the day,
speaking to the camera right outside the courtroom after pulling out
his iPhone from his suit pocket and handing it to an aide.
“It looks like the judge does not allow me to escape this scam.
It’s a scam,” Trump said, complaining that the judge said he could
not attend next week’s Supreme Court arguments on presidential
immunity and his son’s graduation, though Merchan on whether Trump
would be excused for the graduation.
Both during the morning session and when jurors were brought in during
the afternoon, just six reporters and one sketch artist sat inside the
courtroom, forming a protective pool that gave reports on what they saw
and heard to the roughly 100 reporters watching on closed-circuit
television screens in an overflow courtroom.
Trump sat at the defendant’s table between his attorneys, Todd
Blanche and Emil Bove. During breaks, he conferred with Blanche
frequently.
Trump watched the computer screen at the defense table as the district
attorney’s office played evidence that his lawyers argued should be
kept out of the trial, including a snippet of his deposition from the
defamation case where he was asked about the “Access Hollywood”
tape and footage from a 2016 rally where he denied sexual assault
allegations that followed the tape emerging.
Trump also looked forward as his tweets about his from 2018 and his
posts on Truth Social from this year were shown in the courtroom.
When the jury pool was brought in, most jurors did not visibly react
upon sitting down and seeing Trump was the defendant in the case. One
male juror turned to his left as he walked into the courtroom, appeared
to see Trump and smiled.
Trump looked toward Merchan as the judge addressed the prospective
jurors to explain the case and their instructions as potential jurors.
Trump craned his neck and then turned around in his seat as more than
50 prospective jurors of the 96 brought into the courtroom initially
raised their hand to indicate they couldn’t be impartial in the
trial.
Entering and exiting the courtroom, Trump had to walk right past , who
brought this case against Trump and was seated in the fourth row behind
his prosecutors.
In the morning, Trump did not look in Bragg’s direction, but in the
afternoon he stared over to Bragg and the press pool as the jurors
left the courtroom.
Trump will be back at the defendant’s table on Tuesday, when
Merchan will continue questioning the prospective jurors who could
ultimately decide whether to convict Trump in the first criminal trial
of a former president. There were 32 jurors left in the pool from the
96 that started at the end of the day Monday – and Merchan suggested
another new batch of prospective jurors may be brought in Tuesday, too.
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