Trump trial live: Full jury seated in hush money case with first witness to testify as soon as Monday

A full panel of 18 jurors have been seated to hear the evidence against Donald Trump and ultimately decide his fate in the criminal New York hush money trial.

After four days of jury selection, the final alternate jurors were picked from a batch of Manhattan residents on Friday. So long as no other jurors drop out or are dismissed from the panel, opening arguments will begin on Monday.

Friday’s court proceedings were interpreted during the lunch break when a man self-immolated in a park outside of the courthouse.

The rest of the day included a brief Sandoval hearing – where the prosecution asked Judge Juan Merchan whether or not they can bring up prior misconduct and court cases Mr Trump, or his organization, have been involved in during potential cross-examination. Judge Merchan will decide on Monday.

The Republican presidential candidate, who complained the case has become a “mess”, faces 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceala payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about an alleged affair.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg alleges it was part of a greater catch-and-kill scheme Mr Trump engaged in to influence the outcome of the presidential election.

Donald Trump’s request to halt his New York hush money trial was rejected by an appeals court judge on Friday.

The ruling came just hours after the jury of 12 people and six alternates was seated in the case.

Justice Marsha Michael took just minutes to issue the ruling after a short hearing.

The former president’s legal team had asked the judge to pause the case brought by Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg as they attempted to have it moved out of the borough.

Melania Trump has given a rare interview to Fox News urging the