周一下午，唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)的律师试图说服一名上诉法官，在曼哈顿法庭不可能进行公平的陪审团遴选。监督前总统刑事审判的法官法官Juan Merchan公布了一份调查问卷，他计划用这份问卷来监督定于4月15日开始的审判的陪审团选择。
检方陪审员将被问及是否参加过特朗普的集会，是否属于骄傲男孩或Antifa等组织，或者是否志愿加入与特朗普有关的政治实体。
“对于前总统是否可能在州法院受到刑事指控，你有什么强烈的意见或坚定的信念吗?”一个问题问道。“你对特朗普先生在此案中受到的待遇有什么感受吗?”
其他问题包括检方陪审员是否读过特朗普的任何书籍，能否搁置他们过去对该案的了解，或者对与政治捐款有关的法律限制有什么看法。
“你对前总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)或他是现任总统候选人这一事实有任何强烈的观点或坚定的信念，会影响你成为公平或公正的陪审员的能力吗?”另一个问题问。
陪审员还将被问及标准的初步问题，包括他们的婚姻状况、就业状况、爱好、犯罪史和潜在的日程安排冲突。mercom借鉴了特朗普组织刑事审判的方法，选择免除任何自我认为不公平或不公正的陪审员。
“本法庭认为，在仔细考虑了本案的情况后，要求对每一位已经自我认定无法做到公平公正或因其他原因无法服务的未来陪审员进行单独调查是不必要的，耗时且无益的，”Merchan写道。
Merchan还附上了他打算下周向潜在陪审员宣读的摘要，让他们对长达数月的审判有所了解。
“这些指控实质上是唐纳德·特朗普伪造商业记录，以隐瞒与他人达成的非法影响2016年大选的协议。具体而言，据称Donald Trump制作或涉及虚假商业记录，以隐瞒向迈克尔·科恩付款的真实性质，将其描述为根据预聘协议提供的法律服务付款。这些人声称，事实上，这些款项是为了偿还迈克尔·科恩在总统选举前几周支付给斯蒂芬妮·克利福德(又名斯托米·丹尼尔斯)的钱，以防止她公开披露过去与唐纳德·特朗普发生性关系的细节。唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)拒不认罪，否认这些指控。
Judge releases questionnaire for jury selection process in Trump hush-money trial
As Donald Trump’s lawyers on Monday afternoon attempted to convince an appellate judge that a fair jury selection could not happen in a Manhattan courtroom,the judge overseeing the former president’s criminal trial, Judge Juan Merchan, released the questionnaire he plans to use to oversee jury selection for the trial, which is scheduled to begin on April 15.
Prosecutive jurors will be asked if they have ever attended one of Trump’s rallies, if they belong to groups like the Proud Boys or Antifa, or if they volunteered with a political entity associated with the former president.
"Do you have any strong opinions or firmly held beliefs about whether a former president may be criminally charged in a state court?" one question asks. "Do you have any feelings about how Mr. Trump is being treated in this case?"
Other questions ask if prosecutive jurors have read any of Trump’s books, can set aside their past knowledge of the case, or have opinions on the legal limits related to political contributions.
"Do you have any strong opinions or firmly held beliefs about former President Donald Trump or the fact that he is a current candidate for president that would interfere with your ability to be a fair or impartial juror?" another question asked.
Jurors will also be asked standard preliminary questions, including their marital status, employment status, hobbies, criminal history and potential scheduling conflicts. Merchan, borrowing from an approach taken for the Trump Organization criminal trial, opted to excuse any jurors who self-identify as unfair or partial.
"This Court finds, after careful consideration of the circumstances of this case, that requiring individual inquiry of every prospective juror who has already self-identified that they cannot be fair and impartial, or that they are otherwise unable to serve, is unnecessary, time-consuming and of no benefit,” Merchan wrote.
Merchan also included the summary he intends to read to the prospective jurors next week, offering them a glimpse of the months-long trial.
“The allegations are in substance that Donald Trump falsified business records to conceal an agreement with others to unlawfully influence the 2016 election. Specifically, it is alleged that Donald Trump made or concerned false business records to hide the true nature of payments to Michael Cohen, by characterizing them as payment for legal services rendered pursuant to a retainer agreement. The people allege that in fact, the payments were intended to reimburse Michael Cohen for money he paid to Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels, in the weeks before the presidential election to prevent her from publicly revealing details about a past sexual encounter with Donald Trump. Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty and denies the allegations,” the summary said.
