A New York appeals court denied Donald Trump’s petition to change the venue of his upcoming hush money trial. His attorneys had argued that he could not get a fair jury in New York, but the court quickly denied the motion to stop the trial and there is no further argument on changing the venue. The trial is set to begin in one week, and Trump’s attorneys are also objecting to a gag order imposed by Judge Juan Merchan preventing Trump from publicly discussing witnesses in the trial. This was not discussed in Monday’s hearing before the appeals court.
At the hearing, Trump’s attorney presented a survey and media study that showed the pretrial publicity in New York County, where the trial will take place, was unprecedented. He argued that jury selection cannot proceed fairly in Manhattan based on their research and requested a delay in the trial while the motion for a change of venue is resolved. However, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office Chief of Appeals argued that it was too late for Trump’s lawyers to make this petition so close to the trial start date. He stated that the issue is whether a fair jury can be selected, rather than the amount of publicity surrounding the case.
The District Attorney’s office argued that the media coverage of the case has been mostly even-handed and that the mere fact that jurors are aware of the case does not indicate bias. They pointed out that Trump himself has contributed to the publicity surrounding the case. The office also stated that Trump’s filings did not show that New York County has uniquely saturated media coverage or that its residents are incapable of being fair jurors. Jury selection for the hush money trial is scheduled to begin on April 15, and further updates on the case are forthcoming.
In summary, Trump’s request to change the venue of his upcoming hush money trial in New York has been denied by an appeals court. His attorneys argued that he could not receive a fair jury in New York based on unprecedented pretrial publicity, but the court denied the request to stop the trial and change the venue. The District Attorney’s Office emphasized that the key issue is selecting a fair jury, regardless of the media coverage, and argued that New Yorkers are capable of being impartial. Jury selection for the trial is still scheduled to begin on April 15, and updates on the case will continue to develop.
