In former President Donald Trump's New York criminal trial, the selection of alternate jurors is now complete, setting the stage for the commencement of opening statements on Monday. The final five alternate jurors were chosen on Friday, joining the 12 jurors and one alternate who were previously seated during the initial three days of the trial.

The jurors chosen for the trial consist of seven men and five women, all of whom have affirmed their commitment to impartially and fairly judge the case. The selection process involved several individuals being excused for stating their inability to be impartial. Additionally, two seated jurors were excused after being sworn in. One expressed concerns about her impartiality due to the disclosure of details reported about her in the press, while the other was flagged by prosecutors for a possible decades-old arrest that had not been revealed during jury selection.

Further dismissals occurred during the proceedings on Friday, as several potential jurors admitted that they would not be able to set aside their biases or opinions of Trump. The questioning of potential alternate jurors continued until all five seats were filled. Following this, a pretrial hearing was conducted to discuss the topics that prosecutors would be allowed to address if Trump decides to take the stand in his own defense. However, the judge delayed a ruling on the matter and stated that a decision would be made on Monday.

Prosecutors have indicated their intent to question Trump about various high-profile legal defeats, with the aim of challenging his credibility. These include a substantial civil fraud judgment issued in another New York court, as well as civil federal jury verdicts holding him liable for defamation and sexual abuse. Other topics of interest to prosecutors include gag order violations and sanctions imposed on Trump for what a judge deemed a "frivolous, bad faith lawsuit" against Hillary Clinton.

Trump's legal team believes that these topics should be excluded from the trial, which primarily revolves around reimbursements made to former Trump attorney Michael Cohen for a "hush money" payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Prosecutors allege that Trump concealed these reimbursements to distance himself from the payment, which was made shortly before the 2016 presidential election and aimed at maintaining Daniels' silence about an alleged affair. Trump has consistently denied any involvement in the affair and has pled not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsification of business records.

During arguments on the topics Trump might be questioned about, Trump's attorney Clifford Robert contended that Manhattan is too biased to provide a fair trial and that the selection process was rushed. Robert referred to Trump's criminal case as being "one of the most consequential cases in, if not New York, this country's history." This marks the second time in two weeks that Trump has sought a stay and a change of venue in the Appellate Division, First Department.

Steven Wu, representing Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, countered Robert's arguments by stating that defendants are allowed to request a change of venue only once. Wu asserted that the dismissal of more than two-thirds of potential jurors demonstrated that the system effectively weeded out those who would not serve impartially. Wu also defended the pace of the process, highlighting the comprehensive questionnaire answered by potential jurors and the longer-than-usual time allotted for questioning.

Robert further cited an incident where a seated juror asked to be excused due to media attention, seeing it as evidence that Manhattan is an unsuitable venue. In response, Wu pointed out that Trump himself had contributed to the media coverage that led to the juror's departure, referring to a social media post by Trump that implied it was directed at her.

As the trial progresses, all eyes will be on the courtroom as opening statements commence on Monday, offering further insight into the high-stakes legal battle against the former president.