Former President Donald Trump recently posted a stunning rant in which he admitted to an unbelievably wrong belief about jury selection even though that process continued in his criminal trial via Mediaite.
It has been noted that Thursday will be the third day of Trump’s trial for allegedly falsifying business records to pay off porn star Stormy Daniels.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg alleges those 34 felony counts constitute a plot to interfere with the 2016 presidential election by burying the story of Trump’s alleged extramarital affair with Daniels. The trial is adjourned on Wednesdays.
Trump was in court Tuesday, where he fell asleep again as the first seven jurors were seated. When he woke up Wednesday morning, he posted a new rant on Truth Social that betrayed a catastrophic ignorance of the jury selection process and logic itself:
I thought STRIKES were supposed to be “unlimited” when we were picking our jury? I was then told we only had 10, not nearly enough when we were purposely given the 2nd Worst Venue in the Country. Don’t worry, we have the First Worst also, as the Witch Hunt continues! ELECTION INTERFERENCE!
Trump is referring to “peremptory strikes” — which the New York Criminal Justice System Handbook explains are limited:
At the beginning of your trial, a large number of people (jury panel) will enter the courtroom. The court clerk will call out the names of these people, who sit in the jury box. Each is questioned by the judge, prosecutor, and your lawyer about whether he or she can be a fair and impartial juror in your case. If any juror expresses bias or a belief that he or she cannot be fair, that person will be challenged for cause and will not sit as a juror in your trial. In addition, the prosecutor and you (through your lawyer) may object to having certain of these people sit on the jury even though the person has not expressed any bias or doubt as to his or her ability to be fair. This is called a peremptory challenge. The number of peremptory challenges each side has depends on the class of offense with which you are charged. Jurors may not be challenged based on their race, religion, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation.
If peremptory strikes were truly “unlimited,” a defendant could delay the start of a trial into infinity — although in Trump’s defense, this might not be the most absurd Trumpworld legal theory, and he at least did not try to make this argument in court.
