Jury in place for Trump's 'hush money' trial after court rejects delay

A US appeals court has rejected a last-minute bid by former US president Donald Trump to halt the "hush money" trial, claiming that the jury selection process was unfairly rushed.

A full jury of 12 people and six alternates sat on Friday in the high-profile case, setting the stage for opening statements next week in the first criminal trial of a US president.

The jury, which includes a software engineer, investment banker, English teacher and multiple lawyers, took final shape after lawyers spent days quizzing dozens of potential jurors on whether they can impartially judge the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

The judge said lawyers will present opening statements on Monday morning before prosecutors begin laying out their case alleging a scheme to cover up negative stories Trump feared would hurt his 2016 presidential campaign.

The trial unfolding in Manhattan thrusts Trump's legal problems into the heart of his hotly contested race against President Joe Biden, with Trump's opponent likely to seize on unflattering and salacious testimony to make the case he's unfit to return as commander in chief.

Trump, meanwhile, is using the prosecution as a political rallying cry, casting himself as a victim while juggling his dual role as criminal defendant and presidential candidate.

Just after the jury was seated, emergency crews responded to a park outside the courthouse, where a man had set himself on fire. The man took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories and spread them around the park before dousing himself in a flammable substance and setting himself aflame, officials said. He was in critical condition.

Trump has spent the week sitting quietly in the courtroom as lawyers pressed potential jurors on their views about him in a search for any bias that would preclude them from hearing the case.

During breaks in the proceedings, he has railed against the case on social media or to TV cameras in the hallway, calling it a politically motivated "witch hunt."

"This Trial is a Long, Rigged, Endurance Contest, dealing with Nasty, Crooked People, who want to DESTROY OUR COUNTRY," he wrote on Friday on social media.

What's at the heart of the trial?

The trial centers on a $130,000 payment that Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and personal fixer, made to adult movie actress Stormy Daniels to prevent her claims of a sexual encounter with Trump from becoming public in the final days of the 2016 race.

Prosecutors say Trump obscured the true nature of the payments in internal records when his company reimbursed Cohen, who pleaded guilty to federal charges in 2018 and is expected to be a star witness for the prosecution.

Trump has denied having a sexual encounter with Daniels, and his lawyers argue that the payments to Cohen were legitimate legal expenses.

Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. He could get up to four years in prison if convicted, though it’s not clear that the judge would opt to put him behind bars. Trump would almost certainly appeal any conviction.

Trump is involved in four criminal cases, but it's not clear that any others will reach trial before the November election. Appeals and legal wrangling have caused delays in the other three cases charging Trump with plotting to overturn the 2020 election results and with illegally hoarding classified documents.