The twice-impeached former president of the United States, Donald Trump, begins the first of his four criminal trials on Monday. He faces 34 class E felony counts of falsification of business records in the first degree, and if convicted of one of those felonies, he could be looking at a maximum sentence of four years in state prison.
More than 500 New Yorkers have received notices to appear on Monday to participate in the jury selection process. According to the New York State Unified Court System, they were "randomly selected from lists of registered voters, holders of drivers' licenses or ID's issued by the Division of Motor Vehicles, New York State income tax filers, recipients of unemployment insurance or family assistance, and from volunteers."
Prosecutors for the Manhattan district attorney's office and Trump's lawyers will question these prospective jurors, and, with some time, some legal prowess and some luck, a jury of 12 of Trump's peers will be selected to sit in judgment of him and render a unanimous verdict of guilty or not guilty.
This is a preview of Katie S. Phang's latest article. Read the full column here.
