After more than four hours of deliberation, the jury sent judge Juan Merchan two requests, the first to analyze four testimonies related to David Pecker, a former editor who helped ‘hide’ negative stories about the Republican tycoon, and Michael Cohen , Trump’s former lawyer and right-hand man.
In the second request, the group of twelve people, seven men and five women, asked the judge to re-read the instructions assigned at the beginning of the day, a process that will be carried out on Thursday and will last half an hour.
Normally the jury finishes its work at 4:30 pm (9:30 pm Lisbon), but the judge ruled today that they can 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 does not agree, Judge Merchan will ask the twelve members to continue deliberating until they reach a joint decision and, in the worst case, due to lack of consensus, he may declare all or part of the trial null and void.
The start of deliberations in this historic trial follows Tuesday’s closing argument session, which lasted until the evening, when prosecutor Joshua Steinglass accused Trump of intentionally misleading voters by allegedly participating in a pay-to-bury scheme. stories that could destroy his 2016 presidential bid.
The defense approached this phase in the same way as the interrogation: aiming at the credibility of the main witness, Michael Cohen, the republican tycoon’s former lawyer and considered the ‘solver’ of Trump’s personal problems.
Trump, who repeated today that the trial is part of a witch hunt, faces 34 criminal charges of falsifying business records, charges that are punishable by up to four years in prison. Trump has denied all wrongdoing and declared himself innocent.
At the center of the allegations is the payment of $130,000 to pornographic actress Stormy Daniels by Michael Cohen to prevent allegations of an extramarital sexual encounter in 2006 from becoming public.
Prosecutors point out that the payments were falsely recorded as “legal expenses” to hide the true nature of the transactions.
The case is the first of Trump’s four indictments to come to trial and is the first criminal case against a former US president.
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Source: https://www.noticiasaominuto.com/mundo/2571213/juri-do-julgamento-de-trump-sem-veredicto-no-primeiro-dia-de-deliberacao
