The turmoil surrounding former President Donald Trump’s ongoing trial in New York City took a new turn over Memorial Day weekend.
The concern arose due to the lack of sequestration of jurors, which Trump's lawyers fear could expose them to biased opinions and media.
Daily Wire reported that Alina Habba, Donald Trump's legal spokesperson, voiced substantial concerns regarding the potential for juror contamination.
During an appearance on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” Habba highlighted worries about jurors encountering biased media coverage or experiencing social pressures over the holiday weekend.
Habba, distressed by the jurors’ freedom during this critical period, expressed her reservations. She argued the unique and serious nature of the case warranted sequestration to prevent any undue external influences.
"For them to be out and about on a holiday weekend, with friends and families who have opinions, watching the news, the TV is on in the background at the pool party," she explained, indicating the myriad of ways jurors could be inadvertently exposed to prejudicial information.
The legal representative expressed particularly strong concerns regarding news consumption. Alina Habba expressed, "If they’re left-winging and they’re watching MSDNC, as my client calls it, or CNN, they’re not going to get fair news."
The prevailing fear is that exposure to certain media outlets and community opinions during the break might bias jurors' perspectives, impacting their impartiality and judgment.
The backdrop to these concerns is a trial where Donald Trump stands accused of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
The allegations label this as part of a “catch-and-kill” scheme aimed to influence the 2016 election. Donald Trump, who has pleaded not guilty, contends that he is the target of political persecution, amplified as he campaigns for re-election amid multiple ongoing criminal cases.
The prosecution laid out its case with 20 witnesses and over 200 exhibits, including high-profile testimonies from Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen. On the contrary, Trump's defense presented a minimal showcase, bringing only a paralegal and a lawyer formerly advising Michael Cohen to the stand, notably without Trump testifying.
With closing arguments set to commence following the Memorial Day weekend, Habba voiced a poignant critique regarding the jury's exposure during the break. She speculated on the impact of what she termed "Trump Derangement Syndrome" among jurors' acquaintances, possibly swaying their views away from a judicious evaluation based solely on law and facts.
In her final remarks, Alina Habba lamented the missed opportunity for sequestration and reiterated her hope for a verdict based purely on the case's merits. She strongly desires an acquittal, underlining the importance of legal facts reigning over political bias: “I don’t want that. I want the law to be fact, because, if we can get that, we will win, we will not just get a hung jury, we will get an acquittal. So let’s see.”
