- By Madeline Halpert and Kayla Epstein
- BBC News, in court
Donald Trump will not testify at his historic criminal trial, after his defense team concluded its case on Tuesday.
It will be up to his lawyers to speak on his behalf during their closing statements next week.
Although Mr. Trump decided not to testify, he spoke at length to the press waiting outside the courtroom.
“I think a great case has been presented. There is no crime,” Mr. Trump said just before the afternoon session.
It’s not uncommon for defendants to choose not to appear in court, legal experts say.
Testifying under oath would have exposed Mr. Trump to aggressive questioning from prosecutors, as well as other elements of his record, including adverse verdicts in his recent civil trials.
Mr. Trump faces 34 charges of falsifying business records, to which he has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors say he falsified reimbursement records for his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, who paid $130,000 (£102,000) in hush money to an adult film star before the 2016 election. They claim he did it to commit or cover up a second crime.
Before ending their case, his lawyers called only two witnesses, following a parade of 20 prosecution witnesses.
Judge Juan Merchan dismissed the jury mid-morning, telling them to return Tuesday for closing statements from prosecutors and Mr. Trump’s lawyers.
He then oversaw a multitude of cases to prepare the jury to begin deliberations, devoting the afternoon to a highly technical but crucial hearing to determine how he would instruct the jury before it was sent to deliberate.
Both sides made suggestions for how the judge would instruct the jury to apply the law and use the evidence in this case.
Many of the lawyers’ arguments were very technical. For example, there has been debate about referring to the past “crimes” of Mr. Trump’s former lawyer, Cohen, or, as there has been more than one, “crimes.” Cohen was a key witness for the prosecution.
BBC News journalists are in the Manhattan courtroom to cover the historic first criminal trial of a former US president. You’ll find their updates and analysis on the BBC website and news app, as well as on TV, radio and podcasts.
Emil Bove, Mr. Trump’s lawyer, successfully argued that the judge should address the issue of jury bias, due to his client’s controversial reputation.
However, he failed to convince Judge Merchan to ask the jury to agree on the second crime Mr. Trump allegedly sought to commit or cover up by falsifying business records.
Prosecutors have identified three possible crimes, but they do not need to specify which one they believe Mr. Trump committed or covered up. They presented jurors with a broad theory of voter fraud, but kept the details relatively vague.
Mr. Bové acknowledged that the request was unorthodox, but considered that the judge could use his discretion. “What you’re asking me to do is change the law, and I’m not going to do that,” Judge Merchan told him.
A moment of levity came when Judge Mechan decided to remove the convoluted word “eleemosynary” – used here as legal jargon for charity – from the instructions.
He told the court he had read it hundreds of times and never knew how to pronounce it.
“Anyone want to try?” » he asked, provoking laughter in the courtroom.
Those arguments will come into play as early as Tuesday, when Judge Merchan can deliver his detailed instructions to the jury and send them to deliberate.
The 12 regular New Yorkers will then enter a heavily guarded room where they will decide whether to find Mr. Trump guilty or not guilty on each of the 34 charges.
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