(MSN) For now, former President Donald J. Trump, indicted for hoarding classified government documents at his South Florida home, is scheduled to go on trial in U.S. District Court in Fort Pierce, a venue that many observers view as a potentially favorable place because of its politically conservative jury pool.
But the challenges facing both sides in the case may well transcend politics, lawyers and jury consultants say, and it’s far from certain that political leanings of would-be jurors will be the deciding factor in the case’s outcome.
“This is probably the most difficult jury selection imaginable,” said longtime Miami lawyer Jeffrey Tew, who has defended a number of public officials in Florida. “What you want in your jury is to have people judge the facts and the law without any preconceptions as to what the facts are and what the laws are.”
“You’re choosing a jury in probably the most political trial in American history,” Tew added. “Former President Trump from the day he started running has been in the news almost every day, and with his personality he has a very forceful personality that turns some people off and turns some people on.”
Last week, Judge Aileen M. Cannon set a tentative trial for the two-week period starting August 14 in the local courthouse where she presides, and late Friday the prosecution team asked for a delay until December. The location is the northernmost point of the Southern District of Florida, which stretches from Key West to Miami to Fort Lauderdale to West Palm Beach and on to Fort Pierce. Each city is the home of one of the district’s five divisions. Each division has a different mix of voter registrations.
The farther north one travels from Broward County, a rare Florida stronghold for the Democratic Party, the more conservative the population becomes, voter registration statistics show.
In Fort Pierce, which is a division that includes Martin, St, Lucie, Indian River, Highlands, and Okeechobee counties, state election records show the voter registration numbers lean heavily toward Republicans in four of the counties, with the Democrats holding a roughly 3,500-voter edge in St. Lucie.
Trump overwhelmed President Joe Biden in 2020 and Hillary Clinton in 2016, records show, in all four Republican counties in the last two presidential elections as he won Florida both times.
“Florida is a good venue,” Tew said. ‘It’s a red state.’’
Under district rules, court clerks in each division are expected to keep a pool of a minimum number of juror prospects to fill trial and grand juries. In Fort Pierce, the number is 18,000. In West Palm Beach it’s 100,000, in Fort Lauderdale, 150,000 and in Miami, 250,000. The lists must be refreshed every two years.
