Jury selection begins at Chinese woman's Mar-a-Lago trespassing trial

[TexasTowelie]

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (Reuters) - A judge urged potential jurors to ignore their feelings about President Donald Trump's Florida resort, even if they "think it should be blown up," in order to fairly decide the fate of a Chinese national on trial for bluffing her way onto the property.

Jury selection began on Monday in the trial of Yujing Zhang, 33, before U.S. District Judge Roy Altman on charges of making false statements to a federal officer and trespassing on restricted property.

Zhang - whose arrest at the Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach in March while carrying multiple electronic devices sparked a probe as to whether she posed an intelligence threat - has made the unusual decision to defend herself at trial rather than use a lawyer. If convicted, she faces up to six years in a federal prison.

After she appeared confused about the trial, in Fort Lauderdale, Altman reprimanded her and urged her to work with assistant federal public defender Kristy Militello.

Read more: https://www.metro.us/news/the-big-stories/jury-selection-begins-chinese-womans-mar-lago-trespassing-trial

[Princess Turandot]

1. The earlier headlines read something like 'Underwear blunder stalls trial of Chinese woman'..

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/underwear-blunder-stalls-trial-chinese-woman-accused-trespassing-mar-lago-n1051506

Before the potential jurors were brought into the courtroom, Yujing Zhang told Judge Roy Altman that she was wearing brown jail garb instead of civilian clothing because she had not been provided any underwear. Defendants generally wear civilian clothing during trials to not prejudice jurors against them.

After some discussion about which agency was supposed to provide Zhang with underwear, she was taken to a holding cell and changed into a copper-colored blouse and khaki slacks found in her hotel room after her March arrest.

At one point today, she also told the judge that she couldn't follow the interpreter, because she hadn't spoken Mandarin (her native language) in months.