Finding a popular jury to judge Donald Trump appears to be more difficult than expected. Most of the candidates so far have been discarded, including those who declared themselves “not impartial”, those who supported or, on the contrary, opponents of the former president. After two days of hearings, in fact, only three jurors out of 12, plus six substitutes, were found for the trial against him. That is, the one instructed by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, in which Trump is accused of having bought the silence of a former porn star, Stormy Daniels, during the 2016 presidential campaign, so that she would remain silent about their previous relationship. Thirty-four charges and at least two months of hearings. This is the first criminal case against a former president and the only one that could be closed before the November 5 vote. In the US criminal trial, the accused is tried by a jury: ordinary citizens who have the task of rendering a verdict of innocence or guilt. The judges will then decide the punishment. This right, that of the jury, is guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment of the US Constitution. The people who will form the popular jury, and who must have certain requirements to assume the role of judge and answer some questions asked by the defense and prosecutors before being selected, are asked to have an impartial attitude. And, precisely, in the case of Trump’s trial, many of the selected jurors – who in the aforementioned trial will be protected by anonymity – withdrew after declaring that they were not capable of being “neutral”. “History is made in this room,” one of them said to the CNNadmitting that he “was intimidated” by the figure of the former president.
