Second day of jury deliberations in Trump trial

The 12 jurors who have the legal fate of Donald Trump in their hands continue their quest for a verdict in the first criminal trial of Donald Trump on Thursday in Manhattan court 'a former president of the United States, who aspires to become him again.

Arriving at the Manhattan criminal court, which he is forbidden to leave during all the deliberations, the Republican candidate once again denounced a “junk court” and a trial orchestrated according to him by his opponent, Democratic President Joe Biden.

“I just want to say that it is a very sad day for America (…) Everything is rigged,” he added, while he will be judged by citizens of New York chosen at random and selected by the defense and the prosecution.

After six weeks of trial where it was a question of sex, money, and the conquest of power, these seven men and five women must now answer a single question, and unanimously: was Donald Trump guilty of 34 falsifications of accounting documents to conceal a payment of $130,000 to porn actress Stormy Daniels, intended to avoid a sexual scandal at the very end of his 2016 presidential campaign ?

A positive response would tip the 2024 American presidential campaign into an unknown scenario.

– Chaos –

The former President of the United States, who escaped two impeachment procedures during his mandate (2017-2021) and left the White House in chaos on January 20, 2021, without recognizing his defeat against Joe Biden, could appeal and always run against your Democratic rival.

Former US President Donald Trump leaves the Manhattan courthouse during a break, May 30, 2024 in New York © POOL – JUSTIN LANE

But he would have a heavy hat to wear, that of a candidate condemned by the courts.

The trial in New York is all the more important as it will probably be the only one to take place before the presidential election, among the four cases in which Donald Trump is charged , notably that before federal justice in Washington for his alleged illegal attempts to overturn the results of the election that he lost in November 2020.

The jurors decided withdrawn to deliberate on Wednesday, behind closed doors in a court room, with their notes and a computer containing the evidence in the case.

Donald Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, on May 14, 2024 in New York © AFP – TIMOTHY A. CLARY

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After a few hours of work, they asked to listen again to extracts from the testimonies of two key players in the affair, the former boss of a tabloid newspaper close to Donald Trump, David Pecker, and Donald Trump's former personal lawyer and confidant, who is now the number one accuser in the case, Michael Cohen.

Their testimonies relate in particular to a meeting they allegedly had with Donald Trump, in August 2015 at Trump Tower in New York, where they allegedly hatched a plan to chase away any potential scandal targeting the future candidate for office. the White House, even if it means taking out the checkbook to silence embarrassing witnesses.

– Complex case –

A sign that the case is complex, Judge Juan Merchan also reread it on Thursday , at the request of the jurors, the legal instructions he had given them the day before, before they left to deliberate.

Stormy Daniels, leaving Manhattan court, in New York, May 9, 2024 © AFP – Charly TRIBALLEAU

Donald Trump is being prosecuted for having concealed in the accounts of his group of companies, the Trump Organization, the reimbursement in 2017 of $130,000 to Michael Cohen, who had himself paid the money to the actress Stormy Daniels, at the very end of the 2016 presidential campaign.

The porn actress was paid to keep quiet about a sexual relationship she claims to have had with the real estate mogul in 2006, when he was already married to his wife Melania.

For the defense, the prosecution does not hold up because Donald Trump, who became “leader of the free world”, had other things to do than examine the paperwork justifying reimbursements to his lawyer.

Donald Trump's legal woes © AFP – Olivia BUGAULT, Sophie RAMIS

For the prosecution, these false accounting documents on the contrary made it possible to hide electoral fraud, the payment to Stormy Daniels being considered an illegal campaign expense.

If Donald Trump were found guilty, the judge would pronounce the sentence in several weeks, but probably before November 5.

The sentence can go, in theory and at most, up to four years in prison, but the magistrate can also decide on a lighter sanction, such as a sentence prison sentence with suspended probation, or even simple community service.

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