Donald Trump Just Made 'Unwise' Move in Court: Legal Analyst

Former U.S. President Donald Trump waves as he returns to the courtroom with attorney Todd Blanche during a recess in his criminal trial as jury selection continues at Manhattan Criminal Court on April 18, 2024 in New York City. On Thursday, a legal analyst said that Trump made an “unwise” move in his criminal trial after not standing when jurors were introduced.

Former President Donald Trump made an “unwise” move in court Thursday during his Manhattan criminal trial, a legal analyst said.

A pool reporter at Trump’s criminal trial for allegedly falsifying records for hush money payments to former adult film star Stormy Daniels noted on social media that the former president did not stand when potential jurors were introduced.

“In my over 20 years practicing criminal law, I have never observed a defendant refuse to stand and face the jury. Any competent lawyer would tell their client that his fate is in the jury’s hands and they will watch everything he does,” legal analyst and former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Trump’s disrespect for the jury is unwise.”

Newsweek’s Katherine Fung, who is in the court room, confirmed that Trump did not stand when jurors were introduced, although his legal team did.

Newsweek reached out to Trump’s spokesperson via email for comment.

The context

Thursday’s proceedings for the criminal case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg focused on the jury selection process.

Bragg’s indictment said the former president “fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal crimes that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election.”

Trump has continued to deny any wrongdoing in the case. He was previously placed under a gag order by New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan.

What we know

This week, seven jurors were selected for the trial, but two were dismissed Thursday.

At the start of proceedings Thursday, Juror No. 2 was brought into the courtroom and expressed that she had “concerns” about her ability to be fair and impartial.

“Yesterday alone, I had friends, colleagues and family push things to my phone, questioning my identity as a juror,” the juror reportedly said.

The juror was later excused from the case and Fung reported on X that Merchan said, “We just lost what would have been a very good juror for this case.”

Another juror was later dismissed. Both sides determined that Juror No. 4 needed further questioning after prosecutors flagged information that called into question the veracity of his answers. The juror also expressed annoyance about the amount of information being made public.

Views

Former federal prosecutor Ron Filipkowski also responded to Trump not standing on Thursday and said: “I’ve tried over 250 criminal jury trials over 29 years and I have never once not had a client stand up for jurors. That includes 6 charged with murder….”

What’s next

The jury selection process is expected to continue on Thursday and possibly Friday.

Merchan previously set a trial date of April 23 for the court to hear arguments for a potential gag order violation by Trump. The prosecution introduced a motion to sanction Trump for social media posts that they argue violate the order. The prosecution requested Trump be fined $1,000 for each of three potential violations.

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