After four hours of deliberations, the jury sent two requests to Judge Juan Merson, first to review four testimonies related to ex-teacher David Becker and Trump’s ex-lawyer Michael Cohen, who helped ‘cover up’ negative news about the Republican president. and right hand man.
In the second request, the twelve-member panel, comprising seven men and five women, asked the judge to re-read the instructions allotted earlier in the day, which will be carried out on Thursday and last for half an hour.
The jury normally finishes its work at 4:30pm (9:30pm in mainland Portugal), but the judge ruled today that they could extend the day of deliberations for another hour and a half on Thursday if necessary to reach a unanimous agreement. .
If at least one of the jurors disagrees, Judge Merchan asks the twelve members to continue deliberating until they reach a joint decision, and in the worst case, he can declare all or part of the trial invalid for lack of consensus. and vacuum.
The start of the historic trial followed Tuesday’s closing arguments, in which attorney Joshua Stinglas accused Trump of deliberately misleading voters by engaging in stories that could destroy the 2016 presidential election.
The defense approached this phase like a trial: targeting the credibility of key witness Michael Cohen, the Republican president’s former lawyer and Trump’s personal problem solver.
Trump, who reiterated today that the investigation was part of a witch hunt, faces 34 criminal charges for falsifying business records, charges that carry up to four years in prison. Trump has denied all wrongdoing and has declared himself innocent.
At the center of the allegations is a $130,000 payment by Michael Cohen to porn star Stormi Daniels in 2006 to prevent allegations of an extramarital sexual encounter from going public.
Prosecutors point out that the money was falsely recorded as “legal expenses” to hide the true nature of the transactions.
Among Trump’s four impeachment cases, the case is the first criminal case against a former US president.
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