Trump lawyer Alina Habba said jurors in the former president’s business records trial “should have been sequestered” over Memorial Day weekend in order to prevent their friends and families from trying to influence their opinions.
During an interview on Fox News, Habba, who represents former President Donald Trump, said she felt the jury should have been sequestered away from the news media or even their family and friends over the holiday weekend, adding that they are dealing with a case that is “completely unprecedented and unwarranted.”
Habba’s comments come as the 12 jurors are expected to deliver their verdict regarding Trump facing 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree in relation to payments reportedly made to adult entertainment star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential election.
“These are not sequestered jurors,” Habba said. “They should have been sequestered because, in my opinion, these jurors are handling something that is completely unprecedented and unwarranted in America. And for them to be able to be out and about on a holiday weekend, with friends and families who have opinions who are watching the news, TV’s on the background at the pool party — I have serious concerns.”
“If they’re left-wing and they’re watching MSDNC, as my client calls it, or CNN, they’re not going to get fair news,” Habba stated. “They’re going to hear … but, by the way, they have been saying that this case is a hoax, which is shocking. But, they know that the jurors are out there listening and I have concerns about that.”
Trump’s defense team rested on May 21, and this coming Tuesday, closing arguments will begin in the trial.
Judge Juan Merchan explained that the Memorial Day weekend was a factor in having closed arguments on May 28, adding that there was “no way” to get what needed to get done before the holiday weekend.
Merchan predicted that closing arguments would last a day and expressed hope that jury deliberations would begin on May 29, according to the New York Times.
While Habba acknowledged that in certain instances, “time can be on your side,” she added that she had “worries” about the jurors “going back to whatever friends might have Trump derangement syndrome, forgetting all sense of reality and coming back” and sitting in the juror’s box and feeling like they “need to take one for the DNC.”
“I don’t want that,” Habba added. “I want law to fact, because if we can get that, we will win. We will not just get a hung jury, we will get an acquittal.”
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