The jury in Criminal trial of Donald Trump in New York Deliberations are expected to begin Wednesday, marking the beginning of the end of the first criminal trial against a former president in U.S. history.
The 12 Manhattan residents will be tasked with reaching a unanimous verdict on each of the 34 counts of falsifying business records Trump faces. Prosecutors say he hid the one-year repayment target from his lawyer Michael Cohen, who paid $130,000 in “hush money” to adult film star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. pleaded not guilty.
Before deliberations begin, Judge Juan Merchan, the judge overseeing the trial, will give crucial instructions to the jury, laying out the legal questions they must consider and the conclusions they must reach to find Trump guilty beyond all doubt. reasonable doubt. The judge largely sided with prosecutors during a hearing last week on the exact implications of those instructions.
On Tuesday, lawyers for both sides made closing arguments in the Manhattan courtroom, where the trial has been held for the past six weeks. Trump lawyer Todd Blanche took direct aim at Cohen, saying his testimony was riddled with lies and claiming he acted on his own when he made the payment to Daniels. Blanche argued there were many reasons to doubt the story prosecutors told and said their case hinged on Cohen’s unreliable testimony.
Joshua Steinglass, a prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, said Cohen was far from a perfect witness, but asked jurors to focus on documents he said corroborated his account. He described Trump as a micromanager who would not have signed $35,000 checks to Cohen if he did not know the true purpose.
Court resumes at 10 a.m.
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