Could you be a juror in Trump's hush money trial? You would have to answer these 42 questions

Imagine grudgingly schlepping to the courthouse after receiving a jury duty letter in the mail, only to find the place under heightened security with multiple rallies outside for the first day of Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial.

That is what approximately 500 Manhattan residents called for jury duty faced Monday morning. The lawyers in the case are starting to question a batch of potential 96 jurors Monday afternoon in the quest to find 12 people and a few alternates without opinions about the former president.

Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records for allegedly disguising hush money payments issued to porn star Stormy Daniels. He has pleaded not guilty, but the jury will decide the outcome.

What will it take to be selected as a juror for the first criminal trial of a former U.S. president? Here is what we know:

Donald Trump trial live updates:Latest news on jury selection and what Day 4 will bring

Potential jurors asked to answer 42 questions

Judge Juan Merchan decided on the following list of questions that jurors will be asked orally in court, and both Trump's team and prosecutors will have the opportunity to ask follow-up questions:

Juror questions meant to tease out political preferences, lawyers may double check answers

While lawyers can't ask if jurors voted for Trump or plan to vote for Trump, several other questions on the list may tease out their political leanings. For example:

• "Have you, a relative, or a close friend ever worked or volunteered for a Trump presidential campaign, the Trump presidential administration, or any other political entity affiliated with Mr. Trump?
• "Have you ever considered yourself a supporter of or belonged to any of the following:
  • the QAnon movement
  • Proud Boys
  • Oathkeepers
  • Three Percenters
  • Boogaloo Boys
  • Antifa
• "Do you have any feelings of opinions about how Mr. Trump is being treated in this case?"

Experts previously told USA TODAY that the legal teams will be checking the jurors social media profiles to see if they can assess truthfulness and intentions.

Looking for the juror who will hang the case?

There are three basic outcomes from a jury trial: the jury convicts the defendant, the jury acquits the defendant, or the jury "hangs" − meaning jurors can't come to an agreement and the judge is forced to declare a mistrial. Unlike when a defendant is acquitted, prosecutors are able to re-try defendants after mistrials.

As USA TODAY previously reported, retrials don't always happen. That means Trump's team may be looking for a juror who is willing to go against the grain and prevent consensus.

How will the juror pool be whittled down?

If potential jurors' answers indicate they probably will not be impartial in the case, Merchan has said he will strike them from consideration.

For any potential jurors Merchan does not excuse from further service, the two sides will have the option of disqualifying them through one of the limited number of "peremptory strikes" they each have. Those strikes function like vetoes over prospective jurors.