Jurors in New York have begun closed-door deliberations that will determine the verdict for former U.S President, Donald Trump’s hush money case.
Trump has been charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in relation to a $130,000 hush-money payment that his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, made to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels in the final weeks of the 2016 election.
For more than six weeks, the 12 jurors have observed the trial in a New York courtroom.
To convict Trump, the jury will have to find unanimously that he created a fraudulent entry in his company’s records, or caused someone else to do so, and that he did so with the intent of committing or concealing another crime.
Before the start of deliberations, Judge Juan Merchan instructed the jurors.
Merchan’s directives on the law were intended to guide jurors about how they are supposed to weigh the case.
In his instructions, Merchan said that jurors should not look to his comments during the trial as suggesting that Trump was innocent or guilty.
“It is not my responsibility to judge the evidence here. You are the judgers of the facts,” Merchan said.
He also told jurors that they should not consider Trump possibly winding up in jail when rendering their verdict.
“You may not speculate with matters related to sentencing or punishment,” Merchan said.
The judge remarked that it was “my responsibility” to determine a possible sentence – not jurors.
“I direct you to decide this case on the evidence and the law. You must set aside any personal opinions or bias you might have in favour of or against the defendant.”
Judge Juan Merchan
Additionally, Merchan instructed jurors on the concept of accessorial liability, under which a defendant can be held criminally responsible for someone else’s actions.
That is a key component of the prosecution’s theory of the case.
The jury of seven men and five women was sent to a private room to begin weighing a verdict in the first criminal trial of a former U.S. President.
The jurors’ discussions will be secret, though they can send notes to the judge asking to rehear testimony or see evidence.
That is also how they will notify the court of a verdict or if they are unable to reach one.
Trump Calls Charges “Rigged”
After leaving the courtroom following an hourlong reading of jury instructions, Trump repeated his assertions of a “very unfair trial.”
He said, “Mother Teresa could not beat these charges. These charges are rigged.”
Trump repeated his frequent claim that this case was “all done by Joe Biden.”
However, there is no evidence that Biden had anything to do with bringing or running the case. The prosecution was brought and led by Manhattan’s locally elected district attorney, Alvin Bragg.
Trump claimed that Judge Juan Merchan refused to allow Trump’s defense to call a leading expert on election law to testify.
In fact, Merchan did not ban testimony from this witness, former Federal Election Commission chairman Bradley Smith.
Rather, Merchan limited the scope of what Smith was allowed to testify about. After this decision, Trump’s defense decided not to call Smith.
Trump, denouncing the state of the country under Biden, claimed that the US has “fake elections.”
There is no basis for this claim, either. Trump lost the 2020 election to Biden fair and square.
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