Alternate jurors expected to be picked today
The temperature is rising in Donald Trump's New York criminal trial -- just not in the courtroom itself.
As the parties worked to select the jury Thursday, prosecutors alleged that the former president had violated the limited gag order in the case seven additional times beyond the three instances they flagged on Monday. The accusation came a day after Judge Juan Merchand scolded the former president for muttering within earshot of the jury.
As for the actual temperature, Trump and his attorneys complained it was too cold.
"I'm sitting here for days now from morning till night in that freezing room," Trump told reporters Thursday during a break in the proceedings.
Trump attorney Todd Blanche asked Judge Merchan is he could turn up the heat in the courtroom "just one degree," but the judge politely declined, saying he feared a one-degree bump in the nearly century-old building could increase the temperature by 30 degrees.
But the parties persevered, seating the jury's 12 members by the end of the day. Today they'll work to seat the jury's six alternates, in the hope of starting opening arguments on Monday.