Can Donald Trump Get a Fair Trial?

Former President Donald Trump is currently under investigation by the Department of Justice (DOJ) over his handling of classified documents at his Florida residence after he left office.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing following an FBI raid at his Mar-a-Lago property on August 8 and he has not been charged with any crime. However, speculation has grown that he could be facing indictment.

Former Fox News legal analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano has said he believed Trump could face federal indictment for a number of crimes arising from the search, while former Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz has said an indictment is possible but not likely.

The DOJ has also revealed in court filings that it is probing potential violations of the Espionage Act as well as other federal statutes that could lead to years in prison.

If Trump were to be charged with a crime, he would then go to trial before a jury. Both defense and prosecution would be involved in the jury selection process with a lot at stake.

Dr. Jill Huntley Taylor is CEO of Taylor Trial Consulting and is an expert on the psychology, behavior, and decision-making processes of juries with 24 years of experience in jury consulting and trial strategy.

She told Newsweek about how juries are selected and what the factors might be in any trial involving Trump.

"Can Donald Trump get a fair trial? Yes," Huntley Taylor said. "Donald Trump is one of the most powerful people in the world. The world will be watching and scrutinizing every aspect of the trial, the judge, and the jury."

"Fair is not measured by whether you win or lose," she said.

Background Checks

Potential jurors are likely to be rigorously vetted, especially in a case as high profile and with a defendant as well-known as Trump. That vetting may involve background checks, looking into social media use, and examining jurors' political views.

"I would suspect that that will happen is that they would answer that prospective jurors would answer a pretty lengthy background questionnaire, so that each side would be able to understand their attitudes," Huntley Taylor said.

"What have they been exposed to in terms of the particulars of the case at hand and have they formed any opinions about it, but also just, they would want to know more about each person and in this day and age, probably both sides would be doing background searches on folks' social media, looking to see what their, you know, social media footprint is, because politics is one of those things that people do," she said.

Political Allegiance

Huntley Taylor told Newsweek that potential jurors' political views would be a consideration for both sides, including their voter registration and any changes in that registration that could indicate their views.

However, counsel might not necessarily raise party affiliation during the selection process.

"They would just know it. They'd know it, and they may consider it," Huntley Taylor said. "They're going to be looking at the totality of everything they learn about each juror but that - I would say that would be one thing that would be in their list of things they want to know about a person."

Sealing off the Jury

In a case as high profile as a trial involving a former president, any jury could feel under immense pressure and it would be very important to protect jurors from potential intimidation or contamination by media coverage of the trial.

"I think the jurors would have to be very heavily protected," Huntley Taylor said, highlighting the need to protect their identities.

"And they would also need to be almost sealed off as much as possible from the outside world and what was happening as relates to commentary on the case," she added.

Narratives and Evidence

All legal cases center on evidence but they are also essentially about how attorneys tell a story and how they are able to use evidence to weave a narrative convincing for the jury.

"You can't change facts, you can only work with perceptions," Huntley Taylor said. "And so you're crafting a story that uses the facts that are most beneficial to you and the attitudes and perceptions of the jury that are most beneficial to you."

"And you're telling a narrative that most people are going to be willing to believe," she said. "You're going to make it simple and you're going make it compelling and the side that does that best - and has the best evidence - will prevail."

"You can tell a great story, but if you don't have the evidence to back it up, you're not going to prevail," she said.