Former Trump attorney Timothy Parlatore remarked it is “very unusual” to have lawyers serve on a jury, following the selection of two attorneys as jurors for former President Trump’s hush money trial.
“It’s very unusual to have that many lawyers on a jury,” Parlatore said during in an interview on CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper.”
When asked if he believes it is good or bad to have at least two lawyers on the jury, Parlatore said, “It depends on the case.”
“I’ve never had one, but it certainly depends on the case. If you’re trying to mount a technical defense and have them really stick to what the law is, then having … an attorney on the jury can be a very good thing,” he continued.
Trump’s criminal hush money trial kicked off in Manhattan on Monday, when prosecutors and the former president’s defense team parsed through 96 potential jurors.
Following two days of jury selection, seven New Yorkers were picked this week to serve as jurors.
Of those seven, one is a corporate attorney who lives in Chelsea and grew up in Oregon, while another juror is a civil litigator who lives in the Upper East Side and is originally from North Carolina.
Parlatore noted that while a lawyer can sometimes be beneficial for certain cases, one can sometimes carry too much influence over the rest of the panel.
“The problem with having a lawyer on the jury is that they can be a very strong voice and influence the rest of the panel,” he said. “And so, if they are … strong to one side or the other, then that can swap everybody else on the panel.
A total of 12 jurors will need to be picked, with at least six alternates to serve on the trial.
The jury selection process is moving faster than expected, contradicting predictions from some experts who said it could take a week to two weeks to finalize the jury.
The court will return Thursday to continue jury selection.
The former president is accused of illegally covering up a hush money payment made to conceal an alleged affair ahead of the 2016 election. He faces 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with reimbursements to then-fixer Michael Cohen after he paid adult film actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 in October 2016 to keep quiet about the alleged affair.
He pleaded not guilty and has repeatedly denied the affair. It marks the start of the first criminal trial for the ex-president; Trump was later charged in three other criminal cases and now faces a total of 88 counts in four jurisdictions.