Trump’s legal team again asks appeals court to intervene in hush money case

Listen at 3:45 p.m.: The jury is seated, what’s next?

NEW YORK (AP) — A jury of 12 people and six alternates was seated on Friday in former President Donald Trump’s hush money criminal case.

The completion of jury selection sets the stage for opening statements in the first-ever criminal trial of a former U.S. president to begin Monday, as well as weeks of testimony in a case charging Trump with falsifying business records to suppress stories about his sex life emerging in the final days of the 2016 election.

The jury includes a sales professional, a software engineer, an English teacher and multiple lawyers.

The process initially progressed very quickly, with seven jurors seated by the end of Tuesday. But two jurors were later dismissed on Thursday, one after expressing concerns about her ability to be impartial and the other amid questions about whether he had provided accurate answers about his past during the selection process.

Shortly after the jury was seated Friday, emergency crews responded to a park across the street from the courthouse, where a person was on fire. The man was taken to a hospital where he was in critical condition in the burn unit, police said at a news conference later in the day.

The hush money case is the first of Trump’s four indictments to reach trial.

At the heart of the allegations is a $130,000 payment made to porn actor Stormy Daniels by Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and personal fixer, to prevent her claims of a sexual encounter with Trump from becoming public in the final days of the 2016 race.

Prosecutors say Trump obscured the true nature of such payments in internal business documents. Trump has said none of the alleged sexual encounters occurred. He has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.

Currently:

— The hush money case is just one of Trump’s legal cases. See the others here

— Judge in Trump case orders media not to report where potential jurors work

— Social media searches play central role in jury selection for Trump’s trial

— Only 1 in 3 US adults think Trump acted illegally in New York hush money case, AP-NORC poll shows

Here’s the latest:

MAN WHO SET HIMSELF ON FIRE ACROSS FROM COURTHOUSE IS IN CRITICAL CONDITION, POLICE SAY

The man who set himself on fire across the street from the courthouse where Donald Trump’s hush money trial is taking place is in critical condition in a burn unit, police said Friday.

The man first walked into the park around 1:30 p.m., took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories and spread them around the park before he doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials said.

Officials believe the man had traveled from Florida to New York in the past few days.

Authorities said they were reviewing the security protocols outside the courthouse.

“We are very concerned. Of course we are going to review our security protocols,” Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey said.

TRUMP LEGAL TEAM ASKS APPEALS COURT TO INTERVENE

Donald Trump’s legal team has asked the New York state appellate court to intervene in his hush money trial, filing another application with a midlevel appeals court on Friday.

A hearing was scheduled for 3:30 p.m.

The documents weren’t immediately publicly available, but Trump’s lawyers have gone to the appeals court before trying to get the trial delayed or moved out of Manhattan. They have argued that Trump can’t get a fair trial there because of intense publicity.

The trial judge had rejected that request.

POLICE NEWS CONFERENCE EXPECTED

New York police are expected to hold a news conference at 2:45 p.m. Friday after a man set himself on fire in the park across the street from the courthouse where Donald Trump’s hush money trial is taking place.

Passersby rushed to douse the flames and the man was rushed away on a stretcher by emergency crews.

COURT WAS BEING DISMISSED FOR BREAK AS FIRE BROKE OUT

Judge Juan M. Merchan, seemingly unaware of what was unfolding outside the courthouse on Friday afternoon, told newly selected jurors in Donald Trump’s hush money trial that opening statements are set for Monday at 9:30 a.m.

Merchan is expected to hold a hearing Friday at 3:15 p.m. on the prosecution’s desire to question the former president, should he testify, regarding his recent civil court losses.

PERSON RUSHED AWAY ON STRETCHER AFTER FIRE EXTINGUISHED OUTSIDE COURT

Emergency crews rushed away a person on a stretcher after fire was extinguished outside the Manhattan courthouse where jury selection was taking place Friday in Donald Trump’s hush money criminal case.

No other details were immediately available from police.

A full jury of 12 people and six alternates had been seated in Trump’s hush money case just minutes earlier, drawing the first criminal trial of a former U.S. president a step closer to opening statements.

FULL JURY OF 12 PEOPLE AND 6 ALTERNATES SEATED

A jury of 12 people and six alternates was seated on Friday in former President Donald Trump’s hush money criminal trial.

The completion of the jury selection process tees up the first-ever criminal trial of a former U.S. president for opening statements and weeks of testimony in a case charging Trump with falsifying business records to suppress stories about his sex life emerging in the final days of the 2016 election.

The jury includes a sales professional, a software engineer, an English teacher and multiple lawyers.