The members of the jury they finished their first day of deliberations without a verdict in the historic trial against Donald Trump for falsifying his company’s accounting documents. They must decide whether to hand down the first criminal conviction of a former US president, a decision that could shake up the November presidential election.
After weeks of testimony from more than 20 witnesses, the focus now shifts to the twelve member anonymous panel -seven men and five women- who have Trump’s destiny in their hands. “They must put aside any personal opinion they have for or against the accused”the judge told them Juan Merchan before the start of the deliberations, They have no time limit.
“As panelist, you are asked to take a very important decision about another member of this community,” he added Merchan.
After receiving the judge’s instructions, The jury retired to a special room to consider a verdict. which, whatever it is, will have a huge impact on trump and the country as a whole.
The 45th president of the United States (2017-2021) is accused of falsifying accounting documents for his empire, the Trump Organization, to hide a payment of $130,000 to former porn actress Stormy Daniels to avoid a sex scandal at the end of his 2016 presidential campaign.
Yeah trump is found guilty, the political repercussions would far outweigh the seriousness of the charges since, just five months before the presidential election, the candidate would also become a convicted criminal.
The judge also instructed Trump that he must remain in court while awaiting the verdict. Trump reacted by leaving the room and giving an angry statement to reporters, to whom he called it a “very embarrassing situation.” “These charges are rigged,” Trump said. “Not even Mother Teresa could defeat these charges,” he added.
Prosecutor’s Office affirms that it has “strong evidence” against Donald Trump in the US
In a full day of closing arguments Tuesday, his defense team insisted that the evidence for a conviction simply does not existwhile The prosecution replied that on the contrary there is “strong evidence.”
He Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass presented the prosecution’s final arguments after the former president’s defense insisted on his innocence and said the case is based on lies.
Steinglass asked the jury to “disconnect from the noise and ignore distractions”“. “If they have done it, they will see that they have presented themselves strong evidence of the accused’s guilt,” said the prosecutor.
Trial against Donald Trump: guilt, innocence or nullity, the three options that await the former president
To render a verdict of guilty or innocent, the jury must be unanimous. If consensus is not achieved, the trial would be void. If found guilty, the 77-year-old Republican candidate will be able to appeal and still challenge the Democratic president. Joe Biden the November elections.
Steinglass spoke to jurors after Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, told them that the trial “is not a referendum on your ideas about Trump” or “about who you plan to vote for in 2024.”
According to Blanche, The prosecution was unable to prove its accusations, and the only result should be “a simple and quick verdict of not guilty.” “President Trump is innocent,” he said.
Blanche dedicated a good part of her speech to attacking Michael Cohen, former lawyer and former confidant of Trump, who today became his main accuser.
“There was no intent to commit fraud and, beyond that, there was no conspiracy to influence the 2016 election,” Blanche added. Steinglass responded that there was “a mountain of evidence” corroborating the former president’s guilt, in addition to Cohen’s testimony.
Source: Ambito
