Donald Trump reportedly sought to join sidebars — an unusual move for a defendant in a courtroom — in order to be in “close proximity” to prospective jurors as they are asked “more intimate questions” during the Day One selection process for his hush money criminal trial in New York on Monday.
Trump is charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records as part of a hush money scheme to bury stories that he feared could hurt his presidential campaign in 2016. He is the first former president to ever stand trial on criminal charges.
“We learned that Trump wants to go up to every sidebar if the judge has a one-on-one discussion with a client,” CNN’s Kara Scannell said. “That is something that defendants usually almost always waive, that their attorneys go up and the prosecution goes up.”
“But Trump’s lawyer is saying he wants to go in the one-on-ones, the close proximity with the jurors — the prospective jurors — as they are asked more intimate questions that the judge finds that they don’t have to express in open court,” Scannell continued.
