Judge Juan Merchan is allowing former President Donald Trump's attorneys in his hush money trial to file a motion on Monday based on pretrial publicity concerns. The district attorney’s office will have one week to respond to the motion.
During the hearing, Trump's defense team requested an adjournment due to pretrial publicity issues and expressed their readiness to file a motion on Monday seeking the delay. The district attorney's office countered by attributing the pretrial publicity to the defendant and stated their readiness to oppose the defense motion if granted.
Judge Merchan clarified that the Manhattan district attorney’s office was not responsible for the delayed production of documents from the US Attorneys' Office.
Regarding the trial timeline, jury selection is scheduled to occur the week before Passover. Prospective jurors will be informed that court proceedings will not take place on any date that conflicts with their religious observances. The judge hinted at the possibility of adjourning the trial during the second week to accommodate the start of Passover.
