Legal experts say jury selection in Trump trial could be sticking point

The coverage around former President Donald Trump’s arraignment has created a media circus, and Pittsburgh legal experts expect that trend to accelerate, as it could have an effect on jury selection for the trial.

An indictment unsealed Tuesday claimed Trump conspired to illegally influence the 2016 election through a series of hush money payments designed to stifle claims that could be harmful to his candidacy.

Trump, who is running for president again, appeared in a Manhattan courtroom Tuesday for his arraignment and pleaded not guilty to all charges. Trump’s arrival and arraignment were carried by every major news company, many of them live.

Bruce Antkowiak, a law professor at Saint Vincent College in Unity, said every aspect of this case likely will be amplified not only by the media, but also by the Trump campaign because media saturation will make it harder to select a jury.

“Most persons charged with crimes do not want to have their case celebrated in the media, but this is an entirely different scenario,” said Antkowiak, noting that Trump has vowed to continue to run for president and could be buoyed in the trial by ensuring a jury is aware of his case. “The saturation of the populace is going to be significant and complete.”

Stephen Stallings, a former federal prosecutor who now practices private law, said it will be very difficult to assemble a 12-person jury that doesn’t have at least one Trump supporter, which would make conviction difficult because the jury must be unanimous.

Read the indictment:

Stallings said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg must believe he can get a jury to side with him. He said the detail of the “catch-and-kill scheme” where Trump allegedly used multiple payments to kill potentially damaging stories about himself is “stunning,” but that won’t matter if a conviction can’t be reached.

He said Trump has built a legion of supporters that will believe that everything against Trump is false, regardless of facts, and that could really have a sticking point on the make-up of the jury.

Stallings said uncertainty around jury selection and how jurors might respond to stories could be a reason why other prosecutors, such as the U.S. Department of Justice and Georgia officials, have held off on charges against Trump.

“Maybe Manhattan will be different, but I do think that this is underlying the extreme caution from the U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland,” said Stallings.

Antkowiak said so far, there doesn’t appear to be much new ground covered in the indictment and many of the details had already been made public. He said there does not appear to be “an absolute smoking gun” against Trump so far, but there could be new details revealed as the case moves along.

He said, without new details, it will likely be a difficult case for New York prosecutors.

Trial could be set for early 2024 or next spring, and between now and then, there will be nonstop stories about every deliberation of the case. He said that it’s likely going to be unprecedented.

“There is just nothing that is going to be normal about this case,” Antkowiak said.