'No easy task' - The hunt for an impartial Trump jury in Manhattan

'No easy task' - The hunt for an impartial Trump jury in Manhattan On Monday, hundreds of New Yorkers from across the island of Manhattan will find themselves facing a historic prospect: sitting on the jury of the first criminal trial of a former president.

Donald Trump is accused of falsifying his business records to disguise a hush money payment made shortly before the 2016 election to an adult film star with whom he allegedly had an affair.

It will be up to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office and Mr Trump's legal team to weed through the masses of New Yorkers to find 12 people capable of setting aside their feelings about one of the most polarising US politicians, to give him a fair trial.

Mr Trump's lawyers have already complained that the city's Manhattan borough, comprised predominately of Democrats, will not allow for an impartial jury.

And experts agree it will prove challenging.

"There's nobody in the country who doesn't have an opinion one way or another," former Manhattan prosecutor Jeremy Saland says.

"But those in New York have been exposed to Donald Trump and his father and children for literally generations, from every tabloid to the internet to Home Alone."

"A jury should be fair no matter what, listen to the evidence and hold prosecutors to the burden," he says.

"So no easy task."

Because of the high-profile nature of the trial, as many as 500 people from New York's Manhattan and neighbouring Roosevelt Island could be chosen as prospective jurors.

From this group, the defence and the prosecution - overseen by Justice Juan Merchan - will select 12 people and several alternates to be seated.

Those jurors will be anonymous to the public, but Mr Trump's team and prosecutors will know their identities.

The process will begin with dismissing jurors who are unable to participate in the six-week trial because of hardships such as childcare obligations and travel restrictions, says Julie Rendelman, a former Brooklyn prosecutor.

Experts say the second stage could pose the biggest challenge: removing those who will not be impartial.