Big Apple jurors worming out of Trump trial selection

New Yorkers’ busy lives are under the microscope in Donald Trump’s hush-money case, as potential jurors have been bringing up their jobs, their political views, their busy schedules and even their dogs during jury selection in the Manhattan courtroom.

- KELLY RISSMAN, ALEX WOODWARD

On Tuesday morning, the second day of the first-ever criminal trial of a sitting or former US president got underway and apparently, unlike day one, Mr Trump managed to stay awake. So far, no jurors have been picked to decide the former president’s fate as he faces 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection to a so-called hush-money scheme involving payments to cover up an alleged affair the then presidential candidate had ahead of the 2016 election. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Like Mr Trump, who has grumbled that he would rather be attending his son Barron’s graduation instead of sitting in the courtroom, potential jurors have also cited scheduling conflicts and other places to be for why sitting on the six-to-eight-weeklong trial could be an issue.

To date, potential jurors have only been excused after citing an inability to remain impartial – which has happened quite a bit – and scheduling conflicts. Among the diverse pool of jurors, one commonality appears to be that New Yorkers are simply too busy to attend the high-profile trial. No one has explicitly said they don’t want to be there but, through answering questions, they have provided glimpses into their busy lives, from looking after their dogs to weddings to attend... and being workaholics.