The New York jury in Donald Trump’s trial: When the jury is hung, how the jury can decide whether to go after the prosecution

A New York jury has begun deliberations in the trial of Donald Trump. They will decide if Trump will be found guilty or innocent of any of the charges. This is the first criminal trial against a former or sitting U.S. president.

The fact of the payments isn’t in dispute. Prosecutors had to prove that Trump bribed them to cover up other crimes, like violating campaign finance law and mischaracterizing the payments for tax purposes.

The decision must be unanimous. If all 12 jurors can’t agree, the jury is considered “hung,” and the judge will declare a mistrial. The district attorney prosecuting the case will have to decide whether to try the case again.

The jury was reminded to be impartial by the New York judge. The jury instructions were given after an hour, reminding them that some evidence, such as Cohen’s guilty plea to violating federal campaign finance laws, can only be used to establish the credibility of others.

Merchan also explained how the jury should define the law at hand, which includes the intent to defraud and falsify business records. In this case, he said prosecutors argued Trump aimed to conceal breaking New York election law by falsifying business records.

In order to determine this, the jury may look at three of the prosecution’s theories: Federal Election Campaign Act violation, falsification of other business records or violation of tax laws.

Discerning Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign against alleged sexual encounter with a male model in a lake Tahoe, Calif., hotel room

The jurors will head into a room, give up their cellphones, and begin deliberation. There’s one laptop with all the evidence. They will deliberate until at least 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. The legal teams and Trump have been instructed not to leave the building in case there is a jury note that could indicate a question or a possible verdict.

After the day, the defense and prosecution laid out their final arguments. Todd argued that influencing an election is not illegal, as he focused on the credibility of former Trump lawyer Cohen. Cohen testified for the prosecution, and prosecutors wanted to build up her testimony by reminding jurors that they heard from other witnesses.

In August 2015, two months after Trump announced his 2016 presidential bid, David Pecker, then the publisher of the National Enquirer tabloid, met with Trump and Cohen at Trump Tower, according to Pecker’s testimony.

Over the next year, Pecker said he carried out this role. His testimony was corroborated by Keith Davidson, an attorney who represented both Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal. In about June 2016, McDougal considered going public with her story of a year-long affair with Trump. But Pecker bought the rights to that story, with the expectation that he would be reimbursed by Trump. That never happened.

In early October 2016 the campaign was devastated by the release of the Access Hollywood tape, where Trump bragged that he could do things that celebrities couldn’t. You can do anything. You should grab ’em by the p****.

The next day, according to Pecker, Cohen and Davidson, Daniels threatened to go public with accusations she’d had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006 in a Lake Tahoe hotel suite during a celebrity golf tournament.

She testified that Trump had dangled a possible role on the show. This detail — that the sex wasn’t entirely wanted — caused the defense to request a mistrial, which was denied. It also provided a motive for Trump to suppress the story. Prosecutors said, “Trump knew what happened in that hotel room” and didn’t want it to come out. The adult film actor’s testimony also included intimate details of her alleged sexual encounter, some of which Judge Merchan agreed with the defense were not necessary.

Cohen had a wire transfer that was shown in the bank statement. handwritten notes from Cohen and Weisselberg describing the $130,000 payment to cover Cohen’s taxes were on the record. That sum, combined with another reimbursement and a bonus, for a total of $420,000, was paid out over 12 months at a rate of $35,000 per month.

There are a number of other witnesses who agree with the point that Trump made a payment to influence the election to keep women voters on board. The story came out in 2018, rather than in 2016 as was told by Hicks, according to her.

The payments were described as a legal retainer. (Weisselberg, who is serving jail time for perjury in Trump’s civil fraud trial, did not testify.)

Cohen said he and Weisselberg talked to Trump about a deal shortly before he left for Washington. Cohen said Trump approved the deal, saying at the end of the meeting that “it was going to be one heck of a ride,” in Washington. Cohen said he and Trump discussed the arrangement again, in early February, in the Oval Office. Photos and White House records corroborate that the two met in the Oval Office at the time.

Source: Jury begins deliberations in Trump’s hush money case

The Jurors of Trump’s Appeals to the Admissible Prosecutor’s Decision to Be Imprisoned

Some legal experts believe that a former president is unlikely to be imprisoned if Trump is convicted, but it would be possible if the sentence is not prison time. While a conviction can affect someone’s bid for president, it doesn’t prevent Trump from being the GOP nominee. It is likely his legal team would appeal the decision, as they have in past civil trials in New York.

All of the jurors are from Manhattan, including Harlem, Hell’s Kitchen, Murray Hill and the Upper West Side. They are litigators, teachers, physical therapists and investment bankers. Their hobbies include hiking, fly fishing, and exploring New York City. There are seven men and five women.

Merchan has tried to ensure that the jury remains anonymous, citing safety concerns. Jurors are identified by numbers, are not allowed to be photographed or recorded, and only lawyers have access to their names.

The jurors were returned to the courtroom at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday to review several requests they had made during their first five hours of deliberations the day before. They asked that portions of testimony be read back to them.

The jurors asked about the incriminating passages in the testimony of David Pecker, the publisher of the National Enquirer, as well as the negotiations that took place around the purchase of a story from Playboy model Karen McDougal. They requested Michael Cohen’s testimony of that same Trump Tower meeting. The stenographers read the transcript.

Prosecutors argued during the trial that during the meeting at Trump Tower, Trump and Cohen agreed to use tabloids to find and quash stories that would hurt the Trump campaign. This deal, prosecutors said, is what eventually led to the “catch and kill” and payouts to McDougal and adult film star Stormy Daniels. Both were paid to keep quiet about alleged affairs with Trump in the months leading up to the 2016 election.