Social media searches play central role at jury selection for Trump's first criminal trial

NEW YORK (AP) — When the first batch of potential jurors was brought in for Donald Trump's criminal trial this week, all the lawyers had to go on to size them up at first were their names and the answers they gave in court to a set of screening questions.

Then the lawyers went to work, scouring social media for posts that might reveal whether people in the jury pool had hidden biases or extreme views.

One potential juror was dismissed by the judge after the Republican former president's lawyers found a 2017 online post about Trump that said “Lock him up!” Trump's lawyers rejected another potential juror after discovering she had posted a video of New Yorkers celebrating Democrat Joe Biden's presidential election win.

It's all part of an effort by both sides to get a competent jury that — just maybe — might slant slightly in their favor.

Even experts in the art of jury selection say there are limits to what any lawyer can do.

“We never pick a jury. We unpick jurors,” said Tama Kudman, a veteran West Palm Beach, Florida, criminal defense lawyer who also practices in New Jersey and New York.

“We never get who we want. We are just careful to get rid of who we think are dangerous to our clients,” she said. “You know you’ve picked a good jury when nobody’s happy. The prosecution hasn’t gotten who they want. The defense hasn’t gotten who they want. But everybody’s kind of gotten rid of the people who really raise the hair on the back of our neck.”

By the end of the day Thursday, 12 jurors had been seated in the case over allegations that Trump falsified business records to cover up a sex scandal during his 2016 campaign. An effort to seat six alternates was to resume Friday.

The productive day came only after a rough start, when two jurors were dismissed, one after expressing doubt about her ability to be fair after friends and relatives guessed that she was on the jury and the other over concerns that some of his answers in court may have been inaccurate.

Nearly 200 potential jurors have been brought in. All potential jurors are asked whether they can serve and be fair and impartial. Those who have said “no” have been sent home.

Lawyers on both sides then comb through answers prospective jurors provide orally in court to a set of 42 questions that probe whether they have been part of various extremist groups, have attended pro- or anti-Trump rallies, or have been involved with Trump's political campaigns, among other things.

The judge can dismiss people who don't seem likely to be impartial. Under state law, each side also gets to strike up to 10 potential jurors they don't like, plus some additional strikes for potential alternate jurors.

Jo-Ellan Dimitrius, a jury consultant who worked on the O.J. Simpson trial team in the mid-1990s and remains employed in that capacity today, said a social media check has become critical in recent years. She likened it to a “juror polygraph” that can reveal whether a potential juror's answers to questions in court are false.

Still, Dimitrius said, such checks aren't foolproof. Potential jurors can scrub their online footprints before they show up or make their social media accounts private.

A jury consultant has helped Trump’s lawyers research the backgrounds of prospective jurors whose names are provided to lawyers on both sides, but not to the public.

Some people considered but not selected for Trump's jury had things on their social media that looked problematic. Some had shared inflammatory posts, including a meme showing Trump beheaded.

In each case, the person was taken into the courtroom alone to confirm the posts indeed appeared or originated on their account — and, in one case, the account of a spouse. They were asked again about their feelings about Trump and whether they could act impartially.

A bookseller who’d previously declined to share his feelings about the former president admitted holding a “highly unfavorable overall impression” of him after being confronted by a series of Facebook posts, including a video mocking Trump.

In that case, the judge agreed with Trump’s attorneys that the prospective juror should be dismissed with cause. But in other instances, Judge Juan M. Merchan said the posts did not rise to that level, forcing Trump’s attorneys to use their limited number of strikes to have the prospective jurors removed.

“The question is not whether someone agrees with your client politically or not, the question is whether or not they can be fair and impartial,” Merchan told Trump’s attorneys.

The process led Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee in this year's presidential race, to say in a Truth Social post Wednesday that he thought strikes were supposed to be unlimited, not capped at 10, "as the Witch Hunt continues! ELECTION INTERFERENCE!”

Among six people struck by the Manhattan district attorney's office was a prosecutor who works for the district attorney in the Bronx and a man who works in real estate and said he read Trump’s book “The Art of the Deal."

Perhaps the most memorable was a former correction officer who said he may have once served on a jury for a case involving Trump and Merv Griffin. He was dismissed by prosecutors after acknowledging that he appreciated Trump’s style of humor.

That man had also expressed reservations about Trump, noting that he’d known relatives of the wrongly accused teenagers in the Central Park Five case — a group that Trump famously said should face the death penalty.

Sabrina Shroff, a criminal defense attorney, said she considers the jury selection process one of the “most stressful and fun” parts of any trial.

“It’s like setting up a blind date with 12 people and you’re hoping that the blind date is at least a friendship at the end. It’s such a roll of the dice,” she said.

Shroff said she goes by her gut when choosing jurors. Scrutinizing social media profiles, she said, can be challenging because what people put online “isn't who they are.”

“Maybe their affiliations are telling,” she said. “You're still guessing. We make the wrong call all the time. Sometimes, you really think the juror was pulling for you and then you find he was leading the charge to convict.”

Shroff added: “You're always worried you have it wrong. You've misread the scowl or the smile. Maybe they aren't smiling at you, just thinking about a movie they saw and liked.”

Associated Press writer Michael R. Sisak contributed to this report.

FILE - Former President Donald Trump, center, appears in court for his arraignment, Tuesday, April 4, 2023, in New York. A dozen Manhattan residents are soon to become the first Americans ever to sit in judgment of a former president charged with a crime. Jury selection is set to start Monday in former President Donald Trump's hush-money trial. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, Pool)

Judge Juan Merchan's Manhattan courtroom sits empty between proceedings, Tuesday, March 12, 2024, in New York. A dozen Manhattan residents are soon to become the first Americans ever to sit in judgment of a former president charged with a crime. Jury selection is set to start Monday in former President Donald Trump's hush-money trial. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

FILE - Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg listens at news conference in New York, Feb. 7, 2023. As he prepares to bring the first of Donald Trump's four criminal prosecutions to trial, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg finds himself at the center of a political firestorm. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

Former President Donald Trump addresses the media following the second day of jury selection, Tuesday, April 16, 2024, at Manhattan criminal court in New York. Trump is charged with falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal during his 2016 campaign. (Justin Lane/Pool Photo via AP)

Former President Donald Trump addresses the media following the second day of jury selection, Tuesday, April 16, 2024, at Manhattan criminal court in New York. Trump is charged with falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal during his 2016 campaign. (Justin Lane/Pool Photo via AP)

Former President Donald Trump awaits the start of proceedings on the second day of jury selection at Manhattan criminal court, Tuesday, April 16, 2024, in New York. Trump returned to the courtroom Tuesday as a judge works to find a panel of jurors who will decide whether the former president is guilty of criminal charges alleging he falsified business records to cover up a sex scandal during the 2016 campaign. (Michael M. Santiago/Pool Photo via AP)

The Edmonton Oilers have won in these NHL playoffs with a couple of big-scoring games.

They got their latest victory when limited to 13 shots on net and with only one of those going in for a goal.

The versatile Oilers, who scored a combined 13 goals in the first two wins of their series against the Los Angeles Kings, are now back home Wednesday night with a chance to advance to the second round. Edmonton will take a fourth win in the best-of-seven series any way it can get it.

“Having in our portfolio that we can play a lot of different games is going to be huge here coming down the stretch," Oilers defenseman Mattias Ekholm said. “These games, we’re not afraid of them.”

After an extra day off since that 1-0 win on Sunday night for a 3-1 series lead, the Oilers will try to eliminate the Pacific Division rival Kings in the first round for the third year in a row when they play Game 5. Los Angeles has dropped its past four playoff series since being Stanley Cup champions 10 years ago.

The only other NHL game Wednesday night is Game 5 in Dallas, with the Stars and reigning Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights tied 2-2. The road team has won every game in that series, with the Stars winning 4-2 on Monday night to sweep both games in Vegas after the Western Conference's No. 1 seed lost twice at home last week.

“You look at the four games, I don't think we've played a poor game yet,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “I thought the first two games in Dallas, (the Knights) were opportunistic in different situations. I loved Game 3, and for Game 4, you're going to see their best, and I thought we were good considering the situation. So I'm excited about our group getting home.”

This is now a best-of-three series, with the Dallas Stars having home-ice advantage — if that really is an advantage in this series.

After clinching the Western Conference Final in Game 6 last year in Dallas, Vegas won the first two games in this series there. The Knights are comfortable in American Airlines Center, where they also won their only two regular-season games before Christmas.

“Each team's probably had their way in one of these games,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “But in general, here we are tied 2-2, all close games. So we have to be the team that makes the right plays the next game like we did there the last trip.”

The Stars have played the past three games without forwards Mason Marchment and Radek Faska after both left with undisclosed injuries in the third period of the series opener. They have been without big-bodied defender Jani Hakanpää since mid-March because of a lower-body injury.

Ty Dellandrea, a healthy scratch for the Stars their past two games at home, scored the game-winning goal in Game 4. He also didn't play in the first two games of the West final against Vegas last year before scoring twice in the third period of Game 5 then after that game was tied.

“It’s two really good teams going at it,” Dellandra said about this series. ”We’ve kept going back and forth. It’s playoff hockey and it’s exciting.”

While enough to win, Edmonton's 13 shots in Game 4 tied a franchise record for their fewest in a playoff game.

The Kings have never allowed fewer in the playoffs, and that gives them some confidence.

“We’re facing elimination. Last game was a pretty good indicator of what we need to do. We need to play in their zone and put them on their heels, be a lot hungrier around the net,” Kings captain Anze Kopitar said. “We just have to go and play our game. It’s win or go home, play desperate, with emotion and discipline and go from there.”

Special teams have been the difference in this series, and the only goal in Game 4 came on the Oilers' lone chance with a man advantage. That was their eighth power-play goal, while Los Angeles is the only team in the postseason without one at 0 of 11.

Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner has stopped 51 consecutive shots, including that 33-save Sunday for his first career playoff shutout.

Los Angeles interim coach Jim Hiller did not say who would start in net on Wednesday. David Rittich got the start in Game 4 and made 12 saves after Cam Talbot had a 5.31 goals-against average and .891 save percentage in the first three games.

AP Sports Writers Mark Anderson in Las Vegas and Joe Reedy in Los Angeles, and The Canadian Press contributed to this story.

AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb (3) skates past Dallas Stars center Wyatt Johnston (53) during the third period in Game 4 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series Monday, April 29, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)

Dallas Stars center Roope Hintz (24), goaltender Jake Oettinger (29), and center Matt Duchene (95) celebrate after Hintz's empty net goal during the third period against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 4 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series Monday, April 29, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)

Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid, left, battles with Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar, right, and defenseman Mikey Anderson during the third period in Game 4 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series Sunday, April 28, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Edmonton Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch looks at the overhead scoreboard during the first period of the team's NHL hockey game against the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday, April 18, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Edmonton Oilers' Mattias Ekholm (14), Evan Bouchard (2) and Zach Hyman (18) celebrate after a goal against the Los Angeles Kings during the first period of Game 1 in first-round NHL Stanley Cup playoff hockey action in Edmonton, Alberta, Monday, April 22, 2024. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)

Edmonton Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner, left, makes a glove save as Los Angeles Kings center Phillip Danault watches during the first period in Game 4 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series Sunday, April 28, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)