Slain cop's wake could get Trump a hung jury in hush money case: ex-prosecutor

Donald Trump's widely covered attendance of a wake for a slain NYPD officer may have a positive effect on the jury for his upcoming criminal trial and could result in a hung jury, according to a former federal prosecutor.

Bill Shipley, who represents a number of Jan. 6 defendants, said that Trump's New York business fraud trial could result in a hung jury thanks to his attending the wake of officer Jonathan Diller, who was shot and killed while conducting a traffic stop Monday.

As news swirled that Trump was planning to attend the wake, Shipley took to X and wrote, "Please let this be true."

"Please let this be a Trump campaign ad that runs in April and May in NYC media," Shipley wrote.

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"If it is, when Trump gets no worse than a hung jury in the NY case being tried in Manhattan, we'll all know why. And the progressive tears will flow like a river," he continued.

Others chiming in on the post disagreed with the notion that Trump's public exploits could help with a jury.

"You think progressives are gonna cry because Trump grandstanded at the funeral of some cop he couldn't care less about? trump [sic] sent a violent mob to beat police officers on J6," one X user wrote.

As Newsweek points out, Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in relation to his alleged hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels in an attempt to hide an alleged sexual encounter between the two just before the 2016 election.

Jury selection for the trial is expected to begin on April 15.