By The newspaper
May 29, 2024, 18:34 PM EDT
After more than four hours of deliberating, the jury in charge of the verdict in the criminal trial against former President Donald Trump for the alleged falsification of documents to silence a porn actress and protect his presidential run in 2016 did not reach a consensus on his guilt in his first day of deliberation.
The jury sent two requests to Judge Juan Merchan, seeking clarity in certain key testimony and in the judge’s initial instructions.
The jury’s first request was to review four testimonies related to David Pecker, a former tabloid editor who helped bury negative stories about Trump, and Michael Cohen, his former lawyer and right-hand man.
Both testimonies are crucial to understanding the dynamics and motivations behind the payments to Stormy Daniels, the porn actress involved.
The second request was for Judge Merchan to read them again the instructions he gave them at the beginning of the day. This process will take place tomorrow and is expected to last around half an hour.
The jury, made up of twelve people – seven men and five women – will resume their deliberations tomorrow, Thursday at 9:30 a.m. local time (1:30 p.m. GMT), and it is expected that they could extend their day up to an hour and a half more if necessary. necessary to reach a unanimous decision.
If at least one of the members does not agree, Judge Merchan will ask the jurors to continue deliberating until reaching a joint decision.
In the worst case, if consensus is not reached, the judge could declare all or part of the trial void, which would mean that the process would have to start over with a new jury.
“Witch hunt”
Donald Trump, who has reiterated that this trial is part of a “witch hunt,” faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. These charges are related to reimbursing his attorney for paying a total of $130,000 to Stormy Daniels in 2016 to hush up an alleged sexual relationship in 2006.
Prosecutors argue that Trump falsified or arranged for the falsification of business records with the intent to defraud and conceal another crime: influencing the 2016 presidential election in his favor.
For jurors to find Trump “guilty” on all 34 counts, they must conclude that Trump not only falsified business records, but that he did so with the intent to conceal another crime.
If convicted, Trump could face a sentence ranging from probation to four years in prison. This would be an unprecedented scenario, making him the first major party candidate to run for president while being declared a felon.
In any case, if Trump is found guilty, it will likely take several weeks or months until he is sentenced by the judge. During this period, he would likely be released on bail, as he would be a first-time offender of a non-violent crime.
With information from EFE.
Keep reading:
- Jury will deliberate on Trump case in New York starting this Wednesday after concluding final arguments
- Donald Trump responds to prosecutor Jack Smith’s effort to limit his comments about the FBI in classified documents case
- Legal expert sees more than 80% probability that Trump will be found guilty at trial in NY