Donald Trump complained Wednesday that his lawyers were not given “unlimited” chances to reject prospective jurors at his New York criminal hush money trial.
But state law caps the number of would-be jurors his lawyers can strike without cause.
Trump has received the correct number of strikes given the type of criminal charges he faces: 10 peremptory strikes for jurors, plus another two for every alternate juror.
“I thought STRIKES were supposed to be ‘unlimited’ when we were picking our jury?” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “I was then told we only had 10, not nearly enough when we were purposely given the 2nd Worst Venue in the Country.”
His complaints came a day after the first seven jurors were picked for the trial in Manhattan Supreme Court.
Five more jurors and six alternates remain to be seated when the selection process resumes Thursday with a new group of 96 potential jurors, following a break Wednesday.
In criminal trials in New York, both the prosecutors and the defense are allowed a certain number of peremptory strikes, which can be used to dismiss prospective jurors without any reason.
The number of allotted strikes depends on the level of the highest crime charged.
Trials for Class E felonies, which include the charges of falsifying business records that Trump faces, get the fewest number of challenges.
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