Donald Trump's Jurors Have Been Chosen. Next Comes Opening Statements

A jury of 12 has officially been impaneled in the historic hush money trial against the former president, paving the way for lengthy arguments to begin

Twelve jurors have officially been impaneled in Donald Trump's "hush money" case, advancing his first criminal trial into its next phase: opening statements.

Since April 15, Manhattan prosecutors and Trump's defense counsel have been rigorously questioning potential jurors and slowly narrowing down a pool of several hundred candidates in an effort to find a dozen New Yorkers who can judge the former president fairly.

On Friday, the court announced that jury selection was complete. For their own protection, the jurors' identities will not be publicly revealed.

Related: Would You Make It onto Donald Trump’s Jury? Experts Identify the Ideal Juror, and What They’ll Be Asked

Criminal trials progress in stages. After jury selection comes opening statements, when each side will preview its case and make an important first impression on the jury.

Following that, the prosecution will present its case, then the defense. Once all witnesses have been called and all evidence has been presented, attorneys on both sides will offer closing arguments and the jury will begin deliberating on a verdict.

The entire process is expected to take several weeks, likely stretching into June.

Related: Ari Melber Previews What's at Stake in Donald Trump's Hush Money Trial — and How He'll Defend Himself (Exclusive)

Though colloquially branded as Trump's hush money trial, the unprecedented case against the former president is at its core about an alleged scheme to deceive voters ahead of the 2016 election.

Trump is charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, allegedly in an attempt to conceal hush money paid to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. But Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is not only focused on the white-collar aspect of the charges. With this trial, he will paint a portrait of a presidential candidate who went through multiple legally dubious means to hide information from the public days before they went to the polls.

Related: The Biggest Bombshells from the Donald Trump Indictment, from Hush Money Payments to 'Friends in High Places'

"New York prosecutors must prove this was an intentional, lying plot," MSNBC host Ari Melber previously explained to PEOPLE. "Trump's team has two main defenses: They can argue prosecutors have totally overreached ... that [they] stretched a law to 'supersize' this into a big felony case, when there shouldn’t even be a trial. Second, they can argue Trump was not fully in the loop."

If the jury decides to convict Trump on any of the 34 counts in New York, he faces up to four years in prison per count.

Judge Juan Merchan, who has repeatedly clashed with Trump's legal team, would be tasked with determining the former president's sentence in that situation. He could choose to hand down a shorter sentence, or even probation, if he deems the full prison sentence too harsh.

Even if Merchan were to follow the strictest sentencing recommendations for each count, he would very likely allow Trump to serve the terms concurrently.

Related: Every Crime Donald Trump Has Been Charged With

A felony conviction would not disqualify Trump from running in the 2024 election. There's no precedent for what happens if an imprisoned presidential candidate actually wins the election, but many legal experts believe that in that scenario, Trump would receive a Get Out of Jail Free card so that he could fulfill the duties of president.

Presidents do not have the power to pardon state-level crimes.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer.

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.