(PM.) Deliberations of the New York jury in the falsification of business records case against former president and GOP frontrunner Donald Trump came to a conclusion on Thursday, the second day, as the jury delivered their guilty verdict to Judge Juan Merchan. The jury found him guilty on all 34 counts.
The jury had to make a decision on each count in the case against Trump and will have to make a determination as to Trump’s innocence or guilt on all 34 charges brought against him.
Trump returned to the courtroom slightly before 4:30 pm. The room had been quiet for hours as the jury deliberated and weighed Merchan’s instructions to them, first delivered the day before. They had asked Merchan for a transcript of earlier testimony from Michael Cohen as well as for his instructions to them. Merchan permitted both to be read allowed to the jury in the court room, though he did not give them the print outs so that they could read it on their own. The jury also had a laptop and headphones so that they could re-listen to exhibits which were brought into evidence during the trial.
The 55-paged of instructions from Merhcan were read to the jury on Wednesday and contain the rules the jury must follow in arriving at a verdict. The pages the jury requested to hear read back were 7-35. Those pages concern evidentiary inferences, redactions, limiting instructions, presumption of innocence, the fact that the defendant did not testify, the burden of proof, reasonable doubt, the credibility of witnesses (which include a known perjurer and a porn star), as well as notes on motive, witness interest in the outcome, previous criminal conduct of the witnesses, inconsistencies, pre-trial prep of witnesses, accomplices, and a detailed description of the crimes as they were charged. Merchan specifically instructed the jury not to consider whether their verdict could result in a prison term for Trump.
Those counts concern payments made to Trump’s then-attorney Michael Cohen that were classified in bookkeeping records as legal fees. The jury began deliberations on Wednesday, May 29, after weeks of testimony from witnesses, including the prosecution’s star witness Michael Cohen and porn star Stormy Daniels.
The claims of violations by Bragg were two-fold, first concerning misdemeanor charges and then his allegation that those misdemeanors should be considered felonies as he believed they were committed in service to a greater crime.
Bragg alleged that Trump was guilty of 34 counts of fraudulent business records, saying that 34 bookkeeping entries, comprising invoices, checks, and receipts of payments to Trump’s then-attorney Michael Cohen should not have been recorded as legal fees. Bragg claimed that these were not legal fees but were “hush money” payments to a porn star with whom Trump was alleged to have had a sexual relationship.
