Trump hush-money jury to hear instructions before deliberations begin – live | Donald Trump trials

A jury of 12 people empaneled for the first criminal trial of a former president in US history is made up of seven men and five women who live in different parts of Manhattan, including the Upper East Side, Harlem, Hell’s Kitchen and the West Village.

They come from a range of personal backgrounds and employment histories. Several jurors said they had no strong opinions on Trump, and a few said that they do not closely follow the news. The exact racial makeup of the jury, and the ages of the jurors, is unclear.

The full identities of the jury will remain anonymous because of security concerns, but during jury selection the individuals were asked to provide some personal details about themselves. Judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding over the criminal hush-money trial, barred reporters from revealing the current and former employers of jurors and urged them not to use physical descriptors that could compromise their identity.

Here’s what to know about them.

If Trump is convicted, what would punishment be?

Sam Levine

If a Manhattan jury convicts Donald Trump on any of the 34 counts of falsifying business records in the hush-money case, the immediate next question will be what punishment the former president should receive.

It’s a decision that rests entirely with Juan Merchan, the judge overseeing the case. The crime Trump is charged with, falsifying business records in the first degree, is a class E felony in New York, the least serious category, and punishable by up to four years in prison.

But Trump is unlikely to be sentenced to prison if he’s convicted, experts say. He is a first-time offender, and the crime he is charged with is a non-violent paper crime. “I think the judge would probably not incarcerate him under those circumstances alone,” said Cheryl Bader, a law professor at Fordham University who called any sentence of incarceration “unlikely”.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/29/what-if-trump-guilty-prison-fine

So when can we expect a verdict?

Proceedings are expected to kick off at 10am ET – and the judge has to instruct jurors on the law of the case before deliberations can begin.

According to Politico, a verdict before lunchtime is highly unlikely but the Playbook team believe things could move very quickly and few observers are expecting the case to stretch into next week.

The court does not usually sit on a Wednesday but if yesterday’s marathon day in court was any indication, the judge might be keen to wrap this trial up.

On Tuesday, closing arguments ended at 8pm ET after roughly 10 hours that saw the defense and the prosecution sum up their cases. During the previous five weeks of the trial, court tended to end around 5pm ET, suggesting Merchan wanted to move things towards a conclusion.

If you need a refresher on what happened in court on Tuesday, here are some of the highlights:

• Trump was accompanied by his children Donald Jr, Eric and Tiffany, alongside their spouses. Ivanka and Melania Trump were noticeably absent with someone calling out, “Where’s Melania”? as Trump walked into the courtroom.

• Trump spoke to reporters before heading into the courtroom. He called the judge, Juan Merchan, “corrupt” and “conflicted” but said he couldn’t speak about the trial because of the gag order. He added: “We’ll see how it goes. This is a very dangerous day for America. It’s a very sad day.”

• During his closing argument to the jury, Blanche emphasized that Michael Cohen had lied to the jury, calling him the “MVP of liars” and tried to cast doubt on the integrity of a 2016 audio recording that Cohen made of Trump. Blanche also called Cohen a GLOAT, “greatest liar of all time”, in a play on the word GOAT (greatest of all time).

• Robert De Niro spoke outside of the building where Trump’s hearing was held to talk about the threats he believes the nation will face if Trump is elected again in 2024. “We don’t want to wake up after the election saying ‘What again? My God, what the hell have we done?’” the actor told reporters.

• Steinglass began his closing argument by telling the jury that despite Blanche’s swipes at Cohen’s credibility, “this case is not about Michael Cohen. This case is about Donald Trump,” Steinglass said. “Three rich and powerful men, high up in Trump Tower, tried to become even more powerful by controlling the information that reached voters.”

• Steinglass also brought up the Access Hollywood recording of Trump from 2005 and its impact on Trump’s campaign strategy, saying: “The video was vulgar, to say the least,” Steinglass said. “That media strategy shifted from deny, deny, deny, to spin. Ms Hicks testified that among campaign leadership, the consensus was that this was a crisis.”

• Trump’s frugality was referenced several times as Steinglass tries to convince the jury that Trump falsified legal documents to cover up repayment to Cohen for allegedly paying hush money to Stormy Daniels.

• As he wrapped his hours-long closing statement Steinglass emphasized that Trump allegedly acted in concert with his team to effect a cover-up. “Mr Trump doesn’t have to do these acts himself. He can act in concert with others, and that’s what the allegation is,” Steinglass said.

Donald Trump’s criminal hush money trial in New York inches towards its concluding stages on Wednesday as the judge in the case is expected to start jury deliberations.

Once Juan Merchan has instructed jurors on the law, they will begin their deliberations. Merchan’s directives on the law are intended on guiding jurors about how they are supposed to weigh the case.

As a reminder: Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in relation to paying off adult film actor Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. Trump is the first US president, former or present, to face a criminal trial.

Manhattan prosecutors allege that Trump’s then attorney, Michael Cohen, shuttled $130,000 to Daniels days before the election, so that her claim of an extramarital sexual liaison wouldn’t go public and tank his chances at the polls.

We’ll bring you the latest news from Manhattan’s criminal court.