Several more potential jurors dismissed in Donald Trump’s hush money case

Published

4 weeks ago

April 16, 2024

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More jurors have been dismissed on the second day of Donald Trump’s hush money case – as he claimed outside court that the trial “should never have been brought”.

No one has yet been chosen on the panel of 12 jurors and six alternates in the historic trial which started on Monday.

Several others were excused on Tuesday morning after saying they could not be impartial or because they had other commitments.

Dozens of potential jurors have yet to be questioned.

It is the first of Trump‘s four criminal cases to go to trial and may be the only one that could reach a verdict before the presidential vote in November.

If convicted, Trump – the presumptive Republican presidential nominee – would become the first former US president convicted of a crime.

He has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records as part of an alleged effort to keep salacious and, he says, bogus stories about his sex life from emerging during his 2016 campaign.

Trump has claimed the trial is the result of a politically motivated justice system working to deprive him of another term as president.

Before entering the courtroom this morning, he stopped briefly to address a TV camera in the hallway, repeating his claim that the judge is biased against him.

“This is a trial that should have never been brought,” Trump said.

Among the potential jurors dismissed on Tuesday was a woman who had previously notified the judge she had a trip planned around Memorial Day.

A man was excused after saying he could not be impartial.

Another man, who works at an accounting firm, was dismissed after saying he feared his ability to be impartial could be compromised by “unconscious bias” from growing up in Texas and working in finance with people who “intellectually tend to slant Republican”.

Jury selection could take several more days – or even weeks – in New York, which is a heavily Democratic city.

Around a third of the 96 people in the first panel of potential jurors in court on Monday remained after the judge excused some members.

More than half were excused after saying they could not be fair and impartial, and several others were dismissed for other reasons that were not disclosed.

The trial centres on $130,000 (£104,400) in payments that Trump’s company made to his then-lawyer, Michael Cohen.

He paid that sum on Trump’s behalf to keep porn actress Stormy Daniels from going public with her claims of a sexual encounter with Trump a decade earlier.

The former president has denied the sexual encounter ever happened.

Read more: Who is Stormy Daniels?

Prosecutors say the payments – which they claim were falsely logged as legal fees – were part of a scheme to bury damaging stories Trump feared could help his opponent in the 2016 race, particularly as his reputation was suffering at the time from comments he had made about women.

Trump said the payments, which he acknowledged reimbursing Mr Cohen for, were designed to stop Ms Daniels from going public about the alleged encounter.

The former president previously said it had nothing to do with the 2016 campaign.

If convicted of falsifying business records, Trump faces up to four years in prison, though there is no guarantee he will get time behind bars.

His three other legal cases, involving allegations of election interference and hoarding classified documents, could lead to lengthy prison sentences.

But those cases are tied up with appeals or other issues that make it increasingly unlikely they will be decided before the election.

If Trump wins in November, he could order a new attorney general to dismiss his federal cases.

US

Joe Biden and Donald Trump agree on two head-to-head television debates

Published

19 hours ago

May 15, 2024

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Joe Biden and Donald Trump agree on two head-to-head television debates

Joe Biden and Donald Trump have agreed to two head-to-head live televised debates in June and September.

After months of speculation about whether the traditional presidential debates would go ahead, the US broadcaster CNN has announced that a primetime debate will take place at its global headquarters in Atlanta on 27 June at 9pm.

ABC will host a second debate, scheduled for 10 September, just under two months before the election on 5 November.

For weeks, former President Trump has been using social media and rallies to goad President Biden into taking part in a debate.

“Anytime. Anywhere. Anyplace,” Mr Trump has repeatedly said.

Amid speculation over whether President Biden would be prepared to expose himself to the pressure and jeopardy of a live debate, the president used a radio interview in late April to confirm he would be “happy” to.

“I am happy to debate him,” he said. “I am, somewhere. I don’t know when,” he told SiriusFM radio host Howard Stern.

That revelation prompted back-channel conversations between staff from the two campaigns to agree a format.

The debates will bypass the presidential debate commission that traditionally coordinates the process.

Mr Biden’s team have insisted that the two debates do not include a live audience, a move the Trump team are understood to have agreed to.

An hour before CNN announced that it would host the first debate, President Biden released a clip on X confirming his willingness to take part.

“Donald Trump lost two debates to me in 2020. Since then, he hasn’t shown up for a debate,” President Biden said.

“Now he’s acting like he wants to debate me again. Well, make my day, pal. I’ll even do it twice. So let’s pick the dates, Donald.”

In a jibe at Mr Trump’s court case in New York, which doesn’t sit on Wednesdays, Mr Biden added: “I hear you’re free on Wednesdays.”

‘He can’t put two sentences together’

Donald Trump responded with a lengthy statement on his own social media platform, Truth Social.

“Crooked Joe Biden is the WORST debater I have ever faced – He can’t put two sentences together! Crooked is also the WORST President in the history of the United States, by far,” he said.

“It’s time for a debate so that he can explain to the American People his highly destructive Open Border Policy, new and ridiculous EV Mandates, the allowance of Crushing Inflation, High Taxes, and his really WEAK Foreign Policy which is allowing the World to ‘Catch on Fire.'”

The former president continued: “I am Ready and Willing to Debate Crooked Joe at the two proposed times in June and September.

“I would strongly recommend more than two debates and, for excitement purposes, a very large venue, although Biden is supposedly afraid of crowds – That’s only because he doesn’t get them. Just tell me when, I’ll be there. ‘Let’s get ready to Rumble!!!'”

The summer and autumn clashes, to be moderated by as-yet unannounced star anchors, promise to be box office occasions with huge jeopardy for both candidates.

US

Rust weapons supervisor Hannah Gutierrez appeals against conviction over fatal shooting on Alec Baldwin film set

Published

1 day ago

May 15, 2024

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Rust weapons supervisor Hannah Gutierrez appeals against conviction over fatal shooting on Alec Baldwin film set

The weapons supervisor for the Western film Rust is appealing against her conviction for involuntary manslaughter over the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on set, according to court documents.

Hannah Gutierrez was jailed in April after being found guilty by jurors following a trial in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in the US.

She was in charge of weapons during the production of the film in October 2021, when a Colt 45 revolver fired by actor and co-producer Alec Baldwin went off during a rehearsal.

Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died, while director Joel Souza was injured.

A defence lawyer for Gutierrez, who is serving an 18-month sentence at a prison for women in New Mexico, filed a shortly worded appeal notice on Monday.

Her legal team has 30 days to submit detailed arguments. They previously requested a new trial following the verdict.

Gutierrez’s trial was told she unwittingly brought live ammunition to the set, where it was expressly prohibited, and failed to follow basic gun safety protocols.

During her sentencing hearing, she told the court she had tried to do her best while working on the production, despite not having “proper time, resources and staffing”.

Alec Baldwin case latest

Baldwin, who was a producer for the film as well as its star, has also pleaded not guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter.

He maintains he pulled back the gun’s hammer – but not the trigger – before it fired, and is set to face trial in July. He denies any wrongdoing.

The 66-year-old was originally charged in January 2023, more than a year after the shooting, but those charges were dropped a few months later. He was charged again in January this year.

His legal team has filed a motion calling for the charges to be dropped. Prosecutors responded with a 32-page document claiming that footage of the star on set shows he had “absolutely no control of his own emotions” and “no concern for how his conduct” affected those around him.

Assistant director David Halls, who also faced charges, entered a plea bargain for negligent use of a deadly weapon last year, receiving a six-month suspended sentence.

Filming of Rust resumed last year in Montana – with Baldwin reprising his role as the main character – after an agreement made Ms Hutchins’s widower an executive producer.

US

Man who scooped $1.35bn lottery win ’embroiled in legal battle with his own family’

Published

1 day ago

May 15, 2024

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Man who scooped .35bn lottery win 'embroiled in legal battle with his own family'

A man who scooped a $1.35bn lottery win is said to be embroiled in a legal battle – with his own family.

The Mega Millions winner, who has not been named but is believed to hail from the US state of Maine, won the fourth-largest jackpot in US history last year (worth around £1.07bn).

But the story has only grown more complex since then, and the man is now involved in legal proceedings with two members of his family, US media outlet The Daily Beast reports.

He is said to have sued his daughter’s mother for allegedly revealing his newfound wealth to other members of his family in what he claimed was a violation of a non-disclosure agreement.

The lottery winner has also reportedly demanded hundreds of thousands of dollars in penalties, claiming that his child’s mother told his father, sister and stepmother about his big windfall.

But in recent court filings, the woman alleged that the man himself told his father and stepmother about the win, The Daily Beast reported.

Her lawyers said this “shatters the remaining shards” of the lawsuit.

The unnamed lottery winner’s father has also now apparently become involved in the legal proceedings, alleging that his son misled him about a number of things since the win.

“I understand that my son has stated that he told me nothing about his money ‘other than the simple fact that I had won.’ That is not true,” he is quoted as saying in a declaration.

His dad adds that his son “told me a number of things he planned on doing with his money,” even though he never asked him for anything, The Daily Beast also reported.

These allegedly included building a new garage for his father as well as buying old cars to fix up.