Enter the final stage today the trial in New York against Donald Trump For the money paid to porn diva Stormy Daniels. In fact, the final arguments begin today, first that of the defense and then that of the prosecutors who will have to convince the jury that the former president is guilty of the 34 charges, contested for having falsified financial statements and violating the electoral law , to cover the 130 thousand dollars paid in 2016 by his then lawyer Michael Cohen to pay for Daniels’ silence about the sexual relationship he had with the tycoon.
The wait for the speeches
The speeches come later four week trial, 20 witnesseswith the greatest attention paid to the testimonies of Daniels and Cohen, Trump’s main accusers, in particular the gory details revealed by the woman regarding her meeting with Trump, contested by the defense as irrelevant.
In the final arguments it is believed that the defense will continue to hammer on this, as well as on the unreliability as witnesses of both Daniels and, in particular, Cohen, who was convicted of various crimes, including perjury, again in connection with this affair. According to the legal experts cited by CNN, the prosecutors will instead have the task during the final speech of sewing all the pieces together, to demonstrate that even the elements that the defense has contested as not relevant to the case point to Trump’s guilt.
Former New York City Attorney Bernarda Villalona thinks that the prosecution will use closing arguments to “tell the story from the beginning”, therefore predicting that it could last several hours, unlike the initial one which lasted just 40 minutes. There will also be visual elements, such as actual Power Points to try to illustrate more clearly to the 12 jurors what is believed to be the crucial evidence.
The jury and the verdict
Once the final arguments have concluded, Judge Juan Merchan will address the jury, giving them instructions on how to evaluate and decide on the charges against Trump. And, then, this could happen as early as tomorrow, Wednesday, May 29, according to the judge’s schedule, the jurors will begin their deliberations on the first criminal trial against a former president of the United States, who is now again a candidate for the White House.
If he were to be found guilty of the 34 charges, Trump could also face a prison sentence, in the order of a few months in prison, according to former US attorney Harry Litman, interviewed by NPR who, however, believes that “absolutely would not be implemented before November.” In fact, they usually pass a couple of months between the verdict and the sentence issued by the judge, not to mention that Trump would immediately appeal, thus freezing the application of the sentence.
Litman believes that the possibility that Trump will be acquitted is “zero”, also due to the extreme politicization that the former president made of the trial, used as a media and effective platform – considering that the courtroom was transformed into a parade of Republican leaders and exponents flown to New York to demonstrate solidarity with the presidential candidate – for the election campaign.
We must not forget that there is a third possibility, that is, that the jury is unable to find unanimity, the so-called hung jury, which would force the judge to declare mistrail, i.e. the annulment of the trial, which Trump would claim as a victory even if the matter may not be closed for him. The Manhattan prosecutor’s office could in fact decide to prepare another trial, but – according to Litman – it would be difficult for this to happen before the November elections, after which it could find itself in a position to proceed against an elected president.
As for timing, according to Litman the jury’s decision could arrive during the week, perhaps by Friday afternoon. But deliberations could continue next week, which would be an indication of disagreements among jurors that would increase the chances of a failed verdict.
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