Thread by @innercitypress

OK - for US v. Trevor Milton $NKLA trial, now in Courtroom 318 the lawyer mill around, waiting for pool of prospective jurors. Standing at railing is Milton, whispering with 2. Inner City Press aims to live tweet the trial, 1st thread below patreon.com/posts/e-car-tr…

Even here in courtroom 318, the witness & counsel boxes have COVID Plexiglass. But here, the jurors will retired to & ultimate deliberate in 1 rather than 2 jury rooms. There are other trials kicking off today, hence the delay in jury pool walk-over from 500 Pearl

Update of noon: we're only on the 2d prospective juror, who says he's read an article about #Nikola. Judge Ramos says, Why don't you come up and we'll speak to you at sidebar (non-public). Milton's lawyers go up; he remains at defense table.

Long sidebar is over. Mukasey returns to defense table and whispers with Trevor. No decision in reached - Judge Ramos moves on to prospective juror #3, who says she works at Capital One Bank where she was investigated, questioned 30 times

The Capital One prospective juror clarifies that she is a teller who got robbed and so was questioned 30 times in 2020, height of COVID bank robbery apparently.
Judge Ramos: Could you be fair?
Prospective Juror 3: Yes.
This could take a while...

Prospective Juror 4 says she can't read the small type of the jury questionnaire. Judge Ramos asks someone to go up and get his extra pair of magnifying / reading glassed.
Prospective Juror 5 has read about Nikola - another long sidebar begins.
To be continued

Update: Now past 3 pm, Prospective Jurors 25 and 26 have just been dismissed, the latter for overly pro-police sentiment. Yet more whispered sidebars, Mukasey & Young go up, Milton at defense table looking around the courtroom. Watch this feed.

Update: A prospective juror with a relative who has accepted a job at Tesla is interviewed at sidebar - and dismissed. Stories to follow.

For US v. Milton, now questioning of prospective jurors gets more personal. There's a 65 year old woman who lived in Mount Vernon, three brothers in the Army. Now a woman on the Upper West Side whose 24 year old son lives at home, "I don't know what he does."

Milton is taking notes on the prospective jurors' answers
Now a woman who lives in Yonkers,4 sons, one of whom is a truck driver. She likes church and The Price is Right.
Next: 44 year old AP History teacher from Brewster NY. Likes "Sixties, Seventies channels

We're getting there. Last prospective juror, when asked about social media use, says she has Facebook but hasn't logged in for 3 years. Now lawyers have 10 min for peremptory challenges. Milton is huddling with his lawyers.

It's done: sixteen jurors (12 "real" jurors, 4 alternates who might deliberate) have been selected. Story on Patreon with more soon