Donald Trump Can Eliminate 10 Jurors Without Explaining Why

Donald Trump can eliminate 10 jurors from his Stormy Daniels trial without giving a reason, a legal expert has said.

Jury selection is set to take place on April 15 in Trump’s hush-money case. More than 500 New Yorkers are expected to fill out questionnaires about their political beliefs before 12 are chosen, along with six alternate jurors. Trump, the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee, is set to become the first former president in United States history to stand trial in a criminal case.

The prosecution seeks to prove that before the 2016 presidential election, Trump paid two women—adult-film star Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal—not to disclose his alleged affairs with them. He is also accused of making payments to a former Trump Tower doorman who claimed to know that Trump allegedly fathered a child with another woman. Trump has denied all the allegations and says he is the target of a political witch hunt.

Greg Germain, a legal professor at Syracuse University in New York, said that during jury selection for the case, the prosecutors and Trump’s legal team would have the right to eliminate 10 jurors each without explanation because Trump is charged with a Class E felony—which, under New York law, allows both sides to eliminate 10 jurors without cause.

Newsweek has contacted Trump’s attorney for comment via email.

Germain told Newsweek, “There are two types of jury challenges: peremptory and ‘for cause.'”

“Each party gets a limited number of peremptory challenges, which can be used against anyone without stating a reason,” he said.

Germain added that prosecutors cannot eliminate jurors based on recognized “suspect classes”—race, religion, national origin and noncitizen status—that require special judicial scrutiny to avoid unlawful discrimination.

So a judge is unlikely to allow prosecutors to eliminate a juror because they were born in a particular country or practice a particular religion.

In addition to the 10 peremptory challenges, each side has an unlimited amount of “for cause” challenges, in which they can eliminate jurors by showing they are likely biased.

“‘For cause’ challenges are based on bias,” Germain said, adding, “and are unlimited in amount. So each party will want to exclude jurors ‘for cause’ rather than using up their peremptory challenges.”

“For cause” challenges come after jurors have been quizzed about their beliefs, Germain said.

“Jurors will certainly be questioned regarding their opinions of Donald Trump, and if they state strong opinions against him, they will likely be excluded ‘for cause,'” he added.

Germain continued: “I suspect that the next most important factor for both parties is the political affiliation of the juror: Trump wants Republicans and the DA wants Democrats.

“It is also hard to ignore the racial and economic disparity between likely Trump supporters and opponents, and the lawyers will no doubt be cognizant of these disparities.

“I don’t think the judge will allow ‘for cause’ challenges based on political affiliation, race or economic class, so the lawyers will have to question potential jurors to find additional biases that might support a ‘for cause’ disqualification.”