Former President Donald Trump has been found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records.
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee is the first United States president to be the subject of a criminal trial in New York in the first degree. He was accused of making payments to a former attorney in 2016 to cover up an alleged affair.
Trump's sentencing has been scheduled for July 11 — the week before the Republican National Convention begins in Milwaukee. All motions must reportedly be filed by June 13. Sentencing is 4 days before the GOP Convention...They're not even trying to hide the ELECTION INTERFERENCE!!!!
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) May 30, 2024
Trump's legal team is expected to appeal the judgement to the U.S. Supreme Court. At least one commentator has suggested the Court's Bush v. Gore decision in 2000 could provide a basis for appeal.
The trial lasted roughly five weeks. Members of the jury heard summations from the prosecutions and the defense on May 28 before beginning deliberations. Deliberations ultimately last a total of 9.5 hours.
Judge Juan Merchan’s instructions to the jury have become the latest point of scrutiny in an already contentious trial.
“It is not my responsibility to judge the evidence here. It is yours,” he said when the court reconvened on the morning of May 29, per AP News.
Merchan told the jury that they could not have copies of his instructions but they could ask for them to be read again. The second day of deliberations began with a rereading of the instructions at the jury's request as well as a review of the transcript of attorney Michael Cohen's testimony and the cross-examination of National Enquirer publisher David Pecker.
According to Jonathan Turley’s reporting from inside the courtroom on May 29, Merchan told the jury that there was no need to agree on the alleged crime the prosecution claimed Trump was trying to cover up by supposedly authorizing payments to Cohen. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg elevated the charges against Trump to a felony for alleged election interference. If the state had not pursued the case as a felony, the misdemeanor charges would have fallen outside the statute of limitations.
Merchan told the jury that they could be split 4-4-4 and he would treat the verdict as unanimous.
“It is really outrageous,” Andy McCarthy, a former assistant United States Attorney, told Fox News. “In a normal criminal case, every statutory crime has what we call elements of the offense … those are the things the jury has to agree on unanimously that they were proven beyond a reasonable doubt.”
“Here, what we’re doing is taking the element that actually makes this a felony… and the judge is telling them they don’t have to agree what the other crime is,” said McCarthy. “The only reason they are still able to bring this case is because it's a felony, allegedly, and yet now the judge is saying, ‘You know, you don’t have to agree on what the felony is.’”
The jury was also told by the judge to consider the interests of the witnesses in the outcome as they determine their verdict.
The jury, which began deliberations around 11:30 a.m. on May 29, is comprised of seven men and five women. There were six alternative jurors who sat through the entire trial and could have been called in if a juror fell ill.
Hours before the verdict was reached, Trump's reelection campaign released a video stressing that the New York case was politically motivated, and that Judge Merchan failed to act impartially.
"The only verdict that matters is the verdict at the ballot box," says the final voice-over narration. WATCH:
President Trump’s campaign just released a new campaign ad about his Trial in NYC!
“The only verdict that matters is the verdict at the ballot box!”
POWERFUL AD! #Trump2024 pic.twitter.com/Eoy9mE8RDk
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) May 30, 2024
The former president was required to remain at the courthouse while the jury deliberated.
