Donald Trump faced forward and did not appear to make eye contact with any jurors as they entered the courtroom and took their seats in the jury box.

Before any of the lawyers in the case could speak a word, Judge Merchan launched into a lengthy speech outlining how the trial will work.

"We are about to begin the trial of People of the State of New York v. Donald Trump," Merchan told the 12 jurors and six alternates.

Merchan emphasized that the burden of proof rests on the prosecutors and that jurors should presume that Trump is innocent. A guilty verdict requires that each juror determines that the state proved their case beyond a reasonable doubt, Merchan said.

"The defendant is presumed to be innocent," Merchan said. "It is not sufficient to prove that the defendant is probably guilty."

Merchan attempted to set expectations for the jurors, only two of which have ever served on a jury before. For example, Merchan told the jurors not to expect the lawyers to launch into lengthy speeches outside of the opening and closing statements.

"That happens in TV and in movies, but it doesn't happen in real trials," Merchan said.

Judge Juan Merchan ruled that if Trump takes the stand, prosecutors can question him about a number of previous legal issues -- but the judge limited the scope of the cases and the extent to which prosecutors can question him about the facts of those cases.

The ruling is a mixed bag for Trump, who had sought to entirely block questioning on these previous issues if he takes the stand.

Judge Merchan ruled that Trump can be questioned by the DA's office on six determinations from four previous proceedings, including aspects of his New York civil fraud case and the gag order violations there, as well as both verdicts in the E. Jean Carroll cases and the 2018 Trump Foundation case.

Prosecutors had originally asked to question Trump about six different proceedings with 13 total determinations.

Merchan said with his ruling, he has "greatly curtailed" how much prosecutors can discuss the underlying facts of those cases.

"The court cautions the defendant that this Sandoval ruling is a shield, not a sword," Merchan said.

Prosecutors told Judge Merchan that they need 40 minutes for their opening statements.

Defense attorneys told the judge they need 25 minutes.

The judge also announced that court will break at 12:30 p.m. ET today, after a juror had a toothache and got an emergency appointment this afternoon.

Court had already been scheduled to end early today, at 2 p.m. ET, due to the Passover holiday.

Judge Juan Merchan announced there is an issue with Juror No. 9 -- who, according to Merchan, "was concerned about media attention" of the case. According to Merchan, the juror "wasn't 100% sure" they could serve.

Merchan said they would speak to the juror in chambers to "find out what the issue is and see if this juror can continue to serve."

After a brief sidebar, the judge announced: “Juror No. 9 is going to remain with us.”

There are six alternate jurors seated in case any of the 12 jurors cannot serve.

The first six jurors selected to serve in Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial represent a diverse cross-section of New York City, according to their biographical information. Here's a brief sketch of each juror, whose identities are being kept private for security reasons.

Juror No. 1 is a middle-aged salesman who immigrated to the United States from Ireland. He lives in West Harlem and said he normally gets his news from the New York Times, Daily Mail, Fox News and MSNBC. In his spare time, he said he enjoys doing "anything outdoorsy."

Juror No. 2 works as an oncology nurse at Memorial Sloan Kettering. She lives with her fiancé and enjoys taking her dog for walks in the park. She said she gets her news from The New York Times, CNN, Google, and Facebook.

Juror 3 is a corporate attorney who moved to New York from Oregon five years ago. He has worked at two major white-shoe law firms in New York. He said he normally gets his news from The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Google. In his spare time, he said he enjoys hiking and running.

Juror No. 4 said he finds the former president to be "fascinating and mysterious." Originally from Puerto Rico, he has lived in the Lower East Side for the last 40 years. He is a self-employed IT consultant who attended one year of college and has been "married for a long time." He normally gets his news from the Daily News, The New York Times, Google.

Juror No. 5 was the only potential juror who raised her hand when lawyers asked if they had ever heard of Trump's other criminal cases. A life-long New Yorker, she currently works as an ELA teacher in a charter school and lives in Harlem. She normally gets her news from Google and TikTok but said that she "doesn't really care for the news."

Juror No. 6 is a software engineer who works for the Walt Disney Company, which is the parent company of ABC News. She grew up in New York City and lives in Chelsea with three roommates. She said she gets her news from The New York Times and TikTok. In her spare time, she said she enjoys plays, restaurants, dancing, and watching TV.