The New York judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s upcoming criminal hush-money trial on Thursday ordered the identities of jurors to be sealed from the public.
New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan granted a request from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to shield prospective and actual jurors to prevent possible harassment or tampering but information about the jurors would still be available to Trump and his legal team.
“This Court concurs that a protective order is necessary,” Merchan wrote. “The Court further finds good cause… ‘that there is a likelihood of bribery, jury tampering, or of physical injury or harassment of juror(s).”
Merchan wrote in a footnote that the court further found that Trump “has an extensive history of publicly and repeatedly attacking trial jurors and grand jurors.”
But the judge declined to “explicitly” warn Trump that "any harassing or disruptive conduct that threatens the safety or integrity of the jury" would result in Trump’s team losing access to juror information, relying instead on his past warnings, Law360’s Frank Runyeon reported.
Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection to hush-money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign. Trump has pleaded not guilty. Jury selection is scheduled to begin on March 25.
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