Judge dismisses second juror in Trump trial

The judge overseeing former U.S. President Donald Trump's criminal trial dismissed a second juror on Thursday, as lawyers struggled to assemble a jury for one of the most high-profile trials in American history.

The judge overseeing former U.S. President Donald Trump's criminal trial dismissed a second juror on Thursday, as lawyers struggled to assemble a jury for one of the most high-profile trials in American history. Earlier on Thursday, prosecutors said the juror had not disclosed prior brushes with the law. Justice Juan Merchan excused the juror after bringing him in for further questioning, but did not state why he dismissed him.

Before then, Merchan dismissed another juror who said she felt intimidated because some personal information had been made public. The two removals mean that five people so far have been selected for the jury, which will comprise 12 members and six alternates.

The decisions highlighted the extraordinary pressures around the first criminal trial ever of a former U.S. president. Trump is one of the most controversial figures in American politics, and roughly half of the 192 potential jurors screened so far in heavily Democratic Manhattan have been dismissed after saying they could not impartially assess his guilt or innocence.

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