The 12 jurors who will decide the fate of former President Donald Trump were selected in the highly anticipated criminal trial involving alleged hush money payments.
Here are the latest details and what comes next.
What Happened: A lengthy process that saw hundreds of potential jurors asked about their necessity to be impartial in the trial against Trump is one step closer to the trial beginning.
On Thursday, jurors seated for the hush money case now stands at 12, the total needed for the verdict, as shared by NBC News.
Making up the jury are seven men and five women. Here are the jurors and their professions, as reported by NBC News.
- Male, works in sales
- Male, investment banking
- Male, attorney
- Male, security engineer
- Female, teacher
- Female, software engineer
- Male, attorney, likes the outdoors
- Male, retired, previously worked in wealth management
- Female, speech therapist
- Male, commerce worker
- Female, product development manager
- Female, physical therapist
"We have our jury," Judge Juan Merchan said after a 12th juror was agreed upon by the prosecution and defense.
Merchan gave instructions to the jurors Thursday before they left, reminding them that they cannot discuss the case. The judge reminded the jurors that they are expected to view the case with a "fair and impartial manner."
Getting to 12 jurors Thursday could come as a surprise after the way the court day began. After reaching seven jurors Tuesday before adjourning the trial until Thursday, two of the jurors were removed early Thursday.
One juror was dismissed after a prior arrest was brought into question.
Juror 2, an oncology nurse, was excused earlier in the day after saying that after sleeping on the case, she worried she could no longer be impartial. She also was concerned about her identity becoming public with family already asking if she was on the jury.
The jury selection process has also seen large numbers of potential jurors dismissed after saying they can't be impartial in the case. When Merchan asked a pool of 96 potential jurors to raise their hand if they can't be impartial in the case, 48 were immediately dismissed.
What's Next: Six additional jurors are still needed, who will serve as alternates.
The plan, as of now, is for the trial to begin Monday. This could happen if the alternates are selected on Friday. "I'm hopeful we will finish tomorrow," Merchan said.
Trump's hush money criminal trial is expected to last six to eight weeks.
Speaking to reporters after the case wrapped Thursday, Trump said he should have been campaigning in key states for the 2024 election.
"I've been here all day," Trump said.
Trump called the case an "unfair trial."
"The whole thing is a mess."
DJT Price Action: Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group Corp DJT have been volatile during Trump's legal proceedings.
Shares spiked Thursday, but it was likely unrelated to the case. The shares traded higher after a filing from the company explained to shareholders how to keep the shares they own from being loaned out for short selling.
DJT shares closed Thursday up 25.72% to $33.19 versus a 52-week trading range of $22.55 to $79.38.
Photo: Created with artificial intelligence on MidJourney and Zolnierek on Shutterstock
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