US court picks jury panel for Trump's 'hush money' trial

A jury of 12 people has been seated in former president Donald Trump's "hush money" trial in New York, and the court quickly turned to selecting alternate jurors.

The rapid progress on Thursday propelled the case closer to opening statements and weeks of testimony in a case charging the Republican ex-president with falsifying business records to suppress stories about his private life in the final days of the 2016 election.

The jury includes a sales professional, a software engineer, an English teacher and multiple lawyers. The jury selection process picked up momentum on Tuesday with the selection of seven jurors.

But on Thursday, Judge Juan Merchan revealed in court that one of the seven, a cancer nurse, had "conveyed that after sleeping on it overnight, she had concerns about her ability to be fair and impartial in this case."

And though jurors' names are being kept confidential, the woman told the judge and the lawyers that she had doubts after she said aspects of her identity had been made public.

A second seated juror was dismissed after prosecutors raised concerns that he may not have been honest in answering a jury selection question by saying that he had never been accused or convicted of a crime.

Twelve jurors and six alternates must be seated to hear the trial. Merchan said on Tuesday that opening statements could begin as soon as Monday.

More than half the members of a group of 96 prospective jurors brought into the courtroom were dismissed on Thursday, most after saying they doubted their ability to be fair and impartial.

Trump's trial

The case centres on $130,000 Trump's lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen paid to adult actress Stormy Daniels to prevent her claims of a sexual encounter with Trump from becoming public in the 2016 election's final days.

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.

The case is one of four criminal prosecutions involving Trump, but it's possible that it will be the sole case to reach trial before November's presidential election.

Appeals and other legal wrangling have caused delays in cases charging Trump with plotting to overturn the 2020 election results and with illegally hoarding classified documents.

The trial, expected to last six to eight weeks, comes as Trump is taking on Democratic President Joe Biden in a bid to make a shock return to the White House.