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Trump Jury Verdict Watch: Jury Deliberations Begin in Hush Money Trial

Trump Jury Verdict Watch: Jury Deliberations Begin in Hush Money Trial

They will work until 4:30 PM.

The jury has started deliberating in the Trump hush money case. They will work until 4:30 PM.

Judge Merchan just made it easy for the jury to find Trump guilty with a unanimous vote:

https://twitter.com/JonathanTurley/status/1795835016393486582?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

He told the jury what the prosecutors had to prove to find the defedant guilty:

1. On or about Feb. 14, 2017, fromer president Donald Trump personally made or caused a false entry in business enterprise, specifically invoice from his ex-lawyer Michael Cohen

2. Trump did so with intent to commit another crime or intent to conceal another crime. That leaves 33 remaining counts – each for falsifying business records. The only difference is different business record or date. The jury can ask to repeat the law in its entirely as many times.

2nd count relates to voucher kept or remained by the Trump Organization. 3rd count relates to voucher kept or remained by Trump Org.

–4th is check

–5th – invoice from Cohen from March 2017

–6th – entry in general ledger for DJT Trust bearing voucher

–7th – check #000147

–8th – invoice from Cohen April 13, 2017

–9th – entry in general ledger for DJT

–10th – check from June 2017

–11th – invoice from Cohen from May 2017

–12th – entry in general ledger for Trump in May 2017

–13th – Check

–14th – invoice from Cohen

–15th – June general ledge entry

–16th – check & check stub from June 2017

–17th count invoice from Micahel Cohen

–18th entry from general ledger

–19th pertains to Donald J. Trump check and check stub

— 20th count invoice from Michael Cohen

— 21st count ledger entry for Donald J Trump

— 22nd count pertains to check

— 23rd count pertains to voice related to Cohen

— 24th count entry in general ledger for Trump

— 25th count check and check stub

— 26th count invoice from Cohen

— 27th count

— 28th count check and check stub

— 29th invoice from Michael Cohen

— 30th count entry in general ledger of Trump

— 31st count check and check stub

— 32nd count invoice from Cohen

— 33rd count entry in general ledger for Trump

— 34th count also falsifying business records in the first degree, check

Here are the rules:

If the jury has a question on law, they will send a note asking to review. The first juror selected is foreperson. Foreperson does not need to the write note or even agree. The foreperson will read the verdict for each of charged accounts. Jurors will then be polled. Jurors will be given verdict sheet.

The jury may not leave jury room during deliberations. Lunch will be provided and they must give cell phones to a court officer. The jury can only deliberate when all gathered together in jury room.

Must discuss case only among selves, no one else, not even court officer.

If they have questions, they will write note to judge.

The plan today is to work until 4:30. The judge is not permitted to have conversations on facts of the case. No juror can say the vote of any count.

The judge directs all parties to be present during delibrations, and they cannot leave the building.

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Comments

destroycommunism | May 29, 2024 at 12:04 pm

again

the left knows how to run the show

they dont care what the verdict is ( sure they WANT GUILTY but they dont care)

they tied up the potus
they will have history written that he is a convicted criminal etc

sure someeee may vote for him out of sympathy

but even ifff he wins 2024

they run the

schools
msm
business

the gop lays back (except for a few)

its a revolution that the left is continuing to win

UnCivilServant | May 29, 2024 at 12:05 pm

The proper verdict would be to find the Judge guilty.

    Exiliado in reply to UnCivilServant. | May 29, 2024 at 6:16 pm

    And if I was in that jury, I would never stop screaming that fact at the top of my lungs, to anyone and everyone listening, every day of my life until the Good Lord calls me home.

Why haven’t they found him guilty already??

The coming appeal will take months, if not years to finally wind its way through the various Democrat controlled appeals courts and by the time he is found not guilty the media will have long lost interest in the case.

The left doesn’t give a fuck about justice. They only care about finding Trump guilty and they will get that today. The Democrat hand selected Judge has made sure of that.

The Gentle Grizzly | May 29, 2024 at 12:17 pm

I was reading elsewhere that the judge’s instructions are such that the jury can reach virtually any conclusion, or have a vote split three ways, and Trump still is found guilty.

Full disclosure: I just skimmed the article, but it all sounds so patently banana-republic that even a cynical old cuss like me has trouble believing the judge had the chutzpah to do this.

    The judge is claiming that there is no need for unanimity for the predicate crime; the crime the government is alleging that is being used to bootstrap the 24 dead misdemeanors into felonies.

    There seems to be substantial existing jurisprudence that does in fact demand that juries are unanimous in ALL ELEMENTS of the crime.

      GWB in reply to TargaGTS. | May 29, 2024 at 12:49 pm

      That predicate crime should be an element of the crimes charged. Which would require a showing of fact about that element and a requirement to agree that element indeed was fact. But they never did that.

      I heard several banana republics are finding lawyers to pick up a class-action defamation lawsuit over this trial.

        TargaGTS in reply to GWB. | May 29, 2024 at 12:59 pm

        Yes, it’s crazy. It’s actually well-beyond crazy and comfortably into the area of criminal conspiracy to undermine the civil rights of not only Trump, but ALSO his voters.

        Concise in reply to GWB. | May 29, 2024 at 6:25 pm

        Full banana republic. Never go full banana republic.

    it all sounds so patently banana-republic
    QFT

    Connivin Caniff in reply to The Gentle Grizzly. | May 29, 2024 at 1:21 pm

    That means if the jury would go 4-4-4, Trump would be convicted, although the jury, as to each of the specific categories, was 8 to 4 AGAINST voting conviction on that category. That’s not even a preponderance: it’s the opposite.

    Pretty much. The jury can think Trump committed any crime of any type and he is guilty even though the prosecution did not specify what crime Trump is accused of doing. I can’t say I’ve ever heard of a court case that hinged on a different crime being committed where that crime was never specified by the prosecution. 9 jurors can have 9 different crimes they think Trump did without being charged and that is good enough to get a conviction. This is farcical.

Assuming deliberations have begun or will today, we will have the guilty verdict no later than 3 PM EST tomorrow. The jury will want to stay to the PM to get the free lunch.

Make a note you read it here first.

    TargaGTS in reply to Strelnikov. | May 29, 2024 at 12:23 pm

    I agree…unless there’s a holdout. If there are 10 or 11 jurors who want to convict quickly, but another one or two who don’t and those one or two are steadfast in their convictions, we could be in for a long wait.

      AF_Chief_Master_Sgt in reply to TargaGTS. | May 29, 2024 at 1:19 pm

      You will be able to identify the holdouts. They will be the jurors with bruises and broken bones.

      Applied frequently until the judge gets the verdict he wants.

        The real bet is what is the over/under on how many times the judge will send the jury back into deliberations after they say they are hung? At least three is my bet.

        Subotai Bahadur in reply to AF_Chief_Master_Sgt. | May 29, 2024 at 6:35 pm

        The holdouts will be identifiable by being the ones whose homes and families are repeatedly attacked by “mostly nonviolent” Leftists, with the approval of the court.

        Subotai Bahadur

      Some offices pay their employees while they’re on jury duty. (the court per diam has to be refunded in that case) If the lawyers on the jury are effectively billing good money per hour, they could easily be taking notes to be used in a book while letting the circus play on. With two lawyers in the jury, they have the option of two books, one from each side. They wouldn’t admit it now, but I can see an opening as “…once the trial was over and we delivered our unresolvable issue back to the judge, I felt that a great injustice had been committed, and it was my responsibility as a juror to tell the story you had not been shown. This is my story…”

        diver64 in reply to georgfelis. | May 30, 2024 at 6:17 am

        I find it hard to believe that the 2 lawyers (I think I read 2) on the jury can in good conscience go along with this. If they do they should be disbarred.

          TargaGTS in reply to diver64. | May 30, 2024 at 7:16 am

          One is in private practice and the other is a corporate lawyer (for an unnamed corporation). Jesse Waters pointed out last night that both lawyers, but particularly the one at the private practice in MANHATTAN, likely understands the pressure to deliver the ‘correct’ verdict and failing to deliver the ‘correct’ verdict, will likely impede his opportunities to eventually become partner.

          I lost all hope with Manhattan juries having anything to do with Trump. They found against him in the Carrol case even though Carrol couldn’t name the YEAR that Trump alleged ‘raped’ her. Simply unbelievable.

    I hope you are wrong, but cynically that is likely true.

    You are probably right.

destroycommunism | May 29, 2024 at 12:23 pm

I thought the jury>>>De Niro
already gave the verdict

E Howard Hunt | May 29, 2024 at 12:26 pm

Oh, the pure evil, democracy-threatening heinous crime. I can picture it. At the witching hour Trump breaks into the bookkeepers office, dons green eyeshades, opens the journal, maniacally dips his quill into the ink, and laughs demonically as he records more than a score of double entries to account for an NDA paid out over time.

    fogflyer in reply to E Howard Hunt. | May 29, 2024 at 4:33 pm

    Well said!
    It is unbelievably disgusting that this case was prosecuted.
    Even if Trump did everything alleged, how does anyone think it is just to bring a former President and current presidential candidate up on charges over a petty paperwork error? Let alone expanding this low grade misdemeanor, that has had the statute of limitations run out, into a felony through such unprecedented means. Seeing this kind of judicial corruption is a death knell for our once great nation.😢

Gotta love life under the Biden administration. Now a Judge in NYC has decided he has the power and authority to redefine what the word “unanimous” means in a jury trial. All jurors have to do now is agree that Trump intended to crime.

    The Gentle Grizzly in reply to Sanddog. | May 29, 2024 at 12:41 pm

    It all goes along with this disgusting tradition of “Your Honor”, “if Your Honor please…” and other such pseudo-royalty nonsense.

    I went to high school with a snot-nosed, privileged brat who ultimately became a federal judge. Even at our reunions, he took offense when not addressed as Judge [surname] or “your honor”. I did not play his game, instead addressing him by his nickname. He got all in a dither, and I replied that he was not in a position to do a single solitary thing. We weren’t in court, and I was not some attorney he could bully.

    Leaving him speechless made my evening.

      thalesofmiletus in reply to The Gentle Grizzly. | May 29, 2024 at 12:50 pm

      Similar to how only middle-aged women with PhDs in “soft sciences” demand to be called “doctor” in every situation. I’ve a disproportionate amount of friends and family with doctorates, but the only people I call “doctor” are those who can write me prescriptions for drugs. That’s a firm rule.

        The Gentle Grizzly in reply to thalesofmiletus. | May 29, 2024 at 1:17 pm

        I’ve a dear friend with a Ph D in one of the actual real live hard sciences. He is not strict about it but will not dissuade anyone who addresses him as doctor because it brings up the name of a famous soft drink. A running joke and he has a sense of humor about it.

        As for “his honor” that was my classmate, he was one of these people who really, badly, and richly deserved having the living excrement kicked out of him, repeatedly. Sadly, it never happened.

          I’ve only known one person who did this, and that was a 35 year old guy.
          He was a coworker with a PhD in Astronomy. He was was of the smartest guys I’ve ever known, but no social skills or mechanical aptitude. He always wanted to be called “Dr ‘Last-name’”, but I refused. I told him I had a Master’s degree and I would be happy to call him doctor if he called me Master. We went by first names after that, but he was quite irritated😆

          Actually I just remembered a client who was a dentist that also always wanted to be called doctor. He didn’t get his wish either. Seems that arrogance encompasses men also.

          “Sadly, it never happened.”

          Sorry, but that’s 100% your fault.

      Aussie Pat in reply to The Gentle Grizzly. | May 29, 2024 at 8:08 pm

      Same here in Aussie land Grizzly, many of the judges think they are a class above us.
      Power corrupts.

      henrybowman in reply to The Gentle Grizzly. | May 29, 2024 at 8:12 pm

      On the other hand, one of my college crowd was an Asian fellow whose first name was Hon. When we planned to go to dinner or a club, we always had him make reservations for the group. We got some really spectacular tables.

        Like flying to Navy bases when in pilot training. We always emphasized the Captain in our team. As long as they didn’t ask if we weren’t Navy, we just let them make the poor assumption that he was an )-6 and we should get the really nice officer’s quarters.

        If they didn’t then we got the crappy regular officer quarters.

    GWB in reply to Sanddog. | May 29, 2024 at 12:44 pm

    The verdicts will still have to be unanimous.
    Where the judge is screwing this up is in that bit where they made something a crime already determined to not be a crime and then charged him with covering up a crime he didn’t commit. The judge is saying what they think the underlying crime is (which would normally be an actual required element of the crime they’re deliberating) is irrelevant to them finding him guilty of those 34 counts, as long as they think there’s some reason to do so.

    jb4 in reply to Sanddog. | May 29, 2024 at 12:55 pm

    Question for our legal experts: Is this redefining of what “unanimous” means appealable directly to Federal courts, if not SCOTUS, as a Constitutional issue (assuming Trump is convicted)?

      TargaGTS in reply to jb4. | May 29, 2024 at 1:08 pm

      Not a legal expert. But, I’ve read several lengthy discussions on the subject the last couple days with many settling on the idea that it’s possible for Trump to file a common law writ to appeal directly to SCOTUS. While these common law writ applications are possible in theory, their success is exceedingly rare; once or twice a century they work, for instance.

      The most likely avenue for such a writ in this specific case is the failure/refusal of the government to inform the defendant of the predicate crime prior to the trial beginning. In fact, they didn’t even settle on the predicate crime until after the government AND DEFENSE rested their cases. There is no question this will be the primary reason for reversal if Trump is convicted. The only question is if the gravity of the circumstances coupled with the obvious constitutional infirmity of this failure to inform the defendant of the crime the government is alleging he committed going to be enough for SCOTUS to act as it might once every 100-years.

        mailman in reply to TargaGTS. | May 29, 2024 at 3:26 pm

        I guess in a sane world, when Trump is found guilty Friday morning then he should appeal to the SCOTUS mid day Friday and his appeal should be granted that afternoon with conviction over turned by 5pm 😂

        Sadly we live in Democrat world, where going after your political enemy is kosher.

      Subotai Bahadur in reply to jb4. | May 29, 2024 at 6:41 pm

      With all due respect, you are making the assumption that the Constitution and judicial procedure has any bearing on anything that happens in New York or any other Democrat ruled satrapy.

      Subotai Bahadur

This could change everything. Hope it will not. Hard to put toothpaste back in the tube.

I suspect that the Manhattan jury already had arrived at a unanimous verdict before opening statements. Do you think that any of the jurors DIDN’T vote for DA Bragg?

Why waste time with a jury. He is guilty.

Dejectedhead | May 29, 2024 at 12:43 pm

It’s either convicted of 34 felonies or a hung jury. There’s no in between and no acquittal.

    A hung jury, though, throws it back into the prosecutor’s lap to try and get a new trial scheduled. And all those gag orders go away. As does any restriction on travel.

      Dejectedhead in reply to GWB. | May 29, 2024 at 12:49 pm

      Yes, but the trial went so poorly in practice, it may not get tried again. Also it would bump up on the release of the SCOTUS decision on Presidential immunity that could impact a 2nd shot.

        Oh yes, there are all sorts of complications that pop up their ugly heads if it goes that route. Which will actually keep the lawfare in the public eye for even longer….

        Martin in reply to Dejectedhead. | May 29, 2024 at 12:54 pm

        If it hangs they won’t be able to get it rolling again in time for more interference in this election.

How much money has New York state wasted on this process, including all the security, etc., to protect the rule of law and democracy?

There is no such thing as “hush money”. Its fake made up term. It appears that she willingly signed a Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA), aka Confidentiality Agreement, aka Secrecy Agreement, etc. As per terms of the agreement, she accepted some amount of money, cashed the check, and spent it. Which strengthens the agreement. Not uncommon at all for celebrities trying to protect their privacy. The hoe weakened the case as witness.

    And then violated the NDA when her lawyer said she could get more money from her story than she’d have to pay because Trump would toss it rather than fight it, only to find out her story at that time was worthless and the Trump organization wasn’t going to take extortion twice.

thalesofmiletus | May 29, 2024 at 12:58 pm

The upside is QuickBooks adding “Hush Money to Cover Up Sexual Scandal” in the drop-down box next year.

I’ve tried dozens of jury trials. I have never been told that I must remain in the courthouse pending deliberations. I’ve always been told that I should be available by phone when the verdict comes in and no more than 15 minutes away.

    AF_Chief_Master_Sgt in reply to Tim1911. | May 29, 2024 at 1:25 pm

    Apparently, you have never tried a case where the judge is also the jury and the executioner. He wants the persecuted, er defendant, immediately available for transport to the cell.

    😏

The jury has many things to think about during deliberations,…all their family, friends, colleagues, associates and employers know what they are up to and the must weigh the consequences for themselves from the aforementioned if the let the evil Orange Man walk. plus there will be no appearances on the morning shows, no book deals, and they will have to forever live in fear of dining in a NYC restaurant as they will never know what the waiter might have done to their food in retaliation,( see the french toast scene in ‘Road Trip’),..in other words, “GUILTY”

Here’s my prediction. Everyone on the jury lives in the bluest area of a deep blue city. Nobody wants to go home and have to face their friends and coworkers if Trump is found not guilty. They know their names will be released and they will be harassed for -years-

There is one holdout who is horrified but will eventually fold so that everyone can go home for the weekend. He will rationalize that this will be overturned on appeal so he is doing no permanent harm.

The Judge controls the sentencing. He will impose another huge monetary fine and sentence Trump to home-imprisonment so that he is kept off the campaign trail.

Any takers?

    TargaGTS in reply to Hodge. | May 29, 2024 at 1:19 pm

    Under NY law, class E felonies (that what Trump is charged with) carry a maximum potential fine of $5K per count. At 34-counts, the maximum fine Trump is facing is $170K. The judge could also levy ‘restitution,’ but as there is no complaining witness/victim in this case, not sure what the restitution might be. No one lost any money in this ‘crime.’

    Marchan has given no indication he’s a rational actor. He’s decisions in this case are abhorrent. I suspect if Trump is convicted, he’ll be remanded into custody immediately and when sentenced, he’ll be sentenced to 5+ years in prison. The only thing that’s going to stop this is intervention from an appellate court that grants Trump an appellate bond. Without the federal courts interceding, I haven’t much faith the FAR LEFTWING NY courts are going to give Trump any relief in the near-term and probably not in the long term.

      GWB in reply to TargaGTS. | May 29, 2024 at 1:44 pm

      And, as I’ve said before, if Trump lands in a cell, he needs to write a daily “Letters From a NYC Jail.” It needs to lay out every aspect of the travesty of justice everyone is seeing in America. (He needs someone helping him write it, IMO.) Publish it on Truth Social and burn up the public with it.

      gonzotx in reply to TargaGTS. | May 29, 2024 at 3:37 pm

      Dear God that’s just awful, beyond awful

      Subotai Bahadur in reply to TargaGTS. | May 29, 2024 at 6:47 pm

      Agree about immediate remand into custody. And I suspect that fairly immediately after a Leftist wet dream will come true and he will be attacked and probably killed.

      Whether or not they try to use the ensuing chaos as grounds to suspend the elections is open to question.

      Subotai Bahadur

      gospace in reply to TargaGTS. | May 29, 2024 at 9:11 pm

      Gee, wasn’t there another case involving Trump recently where no on lost any money, but he was ordered to pay huge restitution.

        TargaGTS in reply to gospace. | May 30, 2024 at 7:27 am

        Kind of. But, the material difference with that case is that wasn’t a ‘restitution’ order. Instead, that was a fine and the statute that was used to attack Trump gave the judge an ENORMOUS amount of latitude to calculate that fine…which he still exceeded.

        Restitution is generally more tethered to articulable damages incurred by an aggrieved party. IOW, there has to be a complaining witness who can document that the defendant’s actions cost them money in some way, ie. ‘the value of the car that they defendant destroyed when he stole was $100K. and here’s the bill of sale to prove this is how much I paid for the car.’ Since there is no complaining witness in this case and the government has already ceded that Trump paid MORE taxes on the transaction than he actually owed, there aren’t any articulable damages.

    AF_Chief_Master_Sgt in reply to Hodge. | May 29, 2024 at 1:28 pm

    If I recall, there was a corrupt judge in the movie “Peppermint.”

    Olinser in reply to Hodge. | May 29, 2024 at 3:34 pm

    Their names have ALREADY been released. I won’t post them here, but the names are easily available, liberals doxxed all of them before the first day of actual testimony.

    There’s a reason Merchan intentionally didn’t sequester them.

If they convict Trump, at least it will be deliberately.

ThePrimordialOrderedPair | May 29, 2024 at 1:09 pm

Insane. The fact that one can be put on trial without the particulars of the crimes alleged being stated explicitly is just crazy beyond belief. If all of the crimes included and necessary for the charges are not explicitly detailed then it is impossible for the defense to carry out any sort of reasonable defense. You cannot defend against accusations that you are not made aware of.

This idea that jurors can pick from a multiple choice selection of predicate crimes and need only unanimous in that they each picked some predicate crime is so un-American that it boggles the mind, really. I cannot think of much a judge can allow that is worse than this. Merchan should be imprisoned for this abuse. This is even worse of a crime than Alvin Bragg’s (and hence the Biden junta’s) abuse of governmental power to carry out political and personal vendettas.

The idea that anyone can be tried without having ALL of the specific charges detailed from the very beginning … THIS IS NOT AMERICA. Those responsible for this insane persecution need to be imprisoned. ALL OF THEM. FOR THE REST OF THEIR USELESS AND WORTHLESS LIVES.

Not only did Braggs shitstain crew not delineate what the crime that made these past the statute of limitations misdemeanors into currently actionable felonies –they told the jury they could just pick and choose whatever crime they wanted –each individually.

So no, Milhouse, you Democrat ass, there WAS NO PREREQUISITE CRIME.

This is, in it’s entirety, Democrats acting like the leftist junta that they will always be.

    Olinser in reply to Azathoth. | May 29, 2024 at 3:32 pm

    Yes. And the judge has explicitly said that even if they pick different crimes, he will treat it as ‘unanimous’ as long as they all agree that he’s guilty of SOMETHING.

I am so frightened for President Trump and his family

God. Bless President Trump

Here’s my Hot Take: Milhouse is working on the case! (For the defense)

I admit it: I’m glued to Fox News.

I want acquittal followed by rioting. Sorry. I really want the rioting.

    irishgladiator63 in reply to Stuytown. | May 29, 2024 at 1:56 pm

    More likely he’s the judge’s law clerk. It would explain a lot.

    caseoftheblues in reply to Stuytown. | May 30, 2024 at 1:19 am

    Mine is that Milhouse is frantically googling so he can do his normal Acshually….. post declaring everything the judge has done is super legal and above board and anyone who doesn’t agree with him is an idiot. Evil has no greater friend than Milhouse.

    TargaGTS in reply to gonzotx. | May 29, 2024 at 1:50 pm

    Juror #1 – the Foreman – is the only person on that jury who reads like he might be a promising candidate for reason & logic. #7 & #10 could go either way. The rest of them look like they were picked by the Biden Campaign…and may have been.

    MarkS in reply to gonzotx. | May 29, 2024 at 4:21 pm

    How did Trump’s defense allow #2 anywhere near the court house?….”listen to Michael Cohen’s podcast”

I don’t think the judge cares if he is reversed on appeal.

    GWB in reply to puhiawa. | May 29, 2024 at 2:08 pm

    I think he cares a bit.
    But I agree with all the folks saying he will have accomplished his task if Trump is convicted, and needn’t fear any repercussions from being overturned. Just as Bragg will get his cushy job somewhere, even if the people throw him out on his ear next election.

      gonzotx in reply to GWB. | May 29, 2024 at 2:18 pm

      He doesn’t care, his job was to convict President Trump amd put him in jail

      jb4 in reply to GWB. | May 29, 2024 at 7:34 pm

      I disagree, in one situation. IMO the judge and Bragg will be ruined, in one situation – if Trump still wins and gives a special shoutout to those two for getting him millions of extra votes.

    Gosport in reply to puhiawa. | May 29, 2024 at 3:08 pm

    He’ll be busy corrupting the next progressive lawfare trial by then.

The foreman reads the Daily Mail? That’s interesting.

All it takes is for one juror to say “hey, let’s ignore Cohen’s testimony completely. What evidence is there the prosecution has proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt ?”

I have not heard of any evidence that was presented during the trial about the “payments” being shown on the tax returns.

For example,

Were the payments deducted?

Were the payments not deducted?

I do not understand the tax allegation if there was not any evidence about the tax return treatment.

Please let me know if I am incorrect.

The judge’s tax violation jury instruction is shown below:

VIOLATION OF TAX LAWS
The People’s third theory of “unlawful means” which I will define for you now is a Violation of Tax Laws.

Under New York State and New York City law, it is unlawful to knowingly supply or submit materially false or fraudulent information in connection with any tax return.

Likewise, under federal law, it is unlawful for a person to willfully make any tax return, statement, or other document that is fraudulent or false as to any material matter, or that the person does not believe to be true and correct as to every material matter.

Under these federal, state, and local laws, such conduct is unlawful even if it does not result in underpayment of taxes.

    MarkS in reply to ParkRidgeIL. | May 29, 2024 at 4:25 pm

    Trump’s former lawyer,Joe Tacopina, said on Hannity at the beginning of this that Trump didn’t deduct any payments made in regard to Stormy

I’m missing a chunk of background, and unsure if it was ever answered.

If Trump’s payments to Cohen were *not* supposed to be classified as Legal Expenses in the books, what were they supposed to be listed under? Entertainment?

    Assuming the payment was not deducted, this is how the payment would have been shown on Trump’s return:

    If the expenditure was paid by an entity taxed as a partnership or S corporation, the payment would be shown on the return’s reconciliation of income per books and returns.

    If the payment was paid by Trump directly, it would not have been shown on his return at all. (The return does not have a book and tax return reconciliation schedule.)

    TargaGTS in reply to georgfelis. | May 29, 2024 at 4:49 pm

    Your question – which seems to be a central question in the case – was never addressed during the trial. In any other bookkeeping/accounting case like this, the government would have put forward a tax/accounting expert to painstakingly detail how this transaction was recorded and how it should have been recorded. The defense would then have the ability to put forward their own witness. That never happened. The government never put a tax/accounting expert on the stand. The only ‘evidence’ presented that the transaction was illegally recorded was the statement by the prosecution in opening arguments, which of course isn’t testimony at all. This is yet another aspect of the trial that isn’t really being discussed, I think because there are few TV talking heads that have much real world experience prosecuting and/or defending these kinds of white collar crimes.

Allegedly the judge took it even a step further in his ludicrous bias and refused to even provide the written jury instructions to them. They only get them READ TO them, and if they are confused they can ask it to be READ TO them again.

This is insane.

Of course we all know that the jury is going to find him Guilty Of Campaigning While Orange.

The Gentle Grizzly: I was reading elsewhere that the judge’s instructions are such that the jury can reach virtually any conclusion, or have a vote split three ways, and Trump still is found guilty.

ThePrimordialOrderedPair: The fact that one can be put on trial without the particulars of the crimes alleged being stated explicitly is just crazy beyond belief.

That is how predicate crimes work. For instance, the New York burglary statute, N.Y. Penal Law § 140.30, criminalizes breaking and entering “with intent to commit a crime therein”. The intended crime does not have to be specified. It could be stealing. It could be assault. It could be kidnapping. The jury may disagree on the underlying crime but still reach a unanimous guilty verdict on the burglary charge. See De Vonish v. Keane.

Past time, but interesting

They are faking it, of course

It’s a done deal

46 BREAKING:

Jury just sent a note in the Trump criminal trial.

The jury rang the courtroom.

An officer went back into the jury room.

The D.A. team has entered the room.
3:06 PM · May 29, 2024
Posted by: SMO

Just *what* crime is Trump being accused of committing?

Posted by Jury Froman…

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Denying Hillary’s coronation.

It shocks the conscience that in a criminal trial for a former president who’s a presumptive, major-party nominee to be president again in an election a few months from now, this judge has not sequestered the jury, not even during deliberations. I can’t believe more lawyer talking-heads aren’t discussing this.

    Olinser in reply to TargaGTS. | May 29, 2024 at 5:25 pm

    That’s how you know its utterly indefensible. If they talk about it, there is no way to logically defend it.

    So they simply DON’T talk about it.

    jb4 in reply to TargaGTS. | May 29, 2024 at 7:47 pm

    IMO the announced speech by Biden after the verdict and the De Niro stunt are both jury tampering.

    mailman in reply to TargaGTS. | May 30, 2024 at 6:47 am

    No need to do anything like that when they already have their guilty verdict.

According to CNN, one of the jury instructions was…

“You cannot convict Trump on Michael Cohen’s testimony alone because he’s an accomplice, but you can use his evidence if corroborated with other evidence.”

If true, doesn’t the judge calling Cohen an “accomplice” insinuate that Trump is guilty of a crime? Seems extremely unethical if true.

texansamurai | May 29, 2024 at 5:23 pm

unfortunately william kunstler is no more and none of his calibre since

Newsmax: Report: One Juror Seems to Agree With Defense

… the notes from the jury seem to indicate that at least one juror doesn’t agree with the rest. Before adjourning for the day, the jury was reviewing evidence which supports the idea that the first vote wasn’t unanimous.

Mauiobserver | May 29, 2024 at 9:50 pm

If he is convicted what is the NY Appeals process?

If he is convicted and the judge orders incarceration or some form of house arrest/restricted travel what are the odds that the USSC will immediately hear his appeal in order to “save our democracy”. More appropriately rightfully and by necessity save our Constitutional Republic.

It is a tough gig when the jury is deep state actors for FIB

drsamherman | May 29, 2024 at 11:27 pm

Judge Freisler’s instructions to the jury read like the Budge translation of the ancient Egyptian “Book of Coming Forth By Day”, aka “The Book of the Dead”—unnecessarily long, tedious, full of deeply arcane references and gobbledygook.

Didn’t Freisler’s instructions also violate the spirit of the Ramos vs Louisiana decision?

    TargaGTS in reply to drsamherman. | May 30, 2024 at 7:34 am

    Freisler…nice one. With respect to Ramos, probably. Under existing federal jurisprudence, ‘unanimity’ includes unanimity in ‘all elements of the crime.’ Since Ramos incorporates 6A to the states, all that federal jurisprudence on 6A is also now applicable to the state. If Trump is convicted, this will almost certainly be one of the critical appellate issues. But, even without Ramos, many practicing New York criminal defense lawyers have state that they believe that the statute itself violates the New York Constitution with respect to unanimity.

      TargaGTS: With respect to Ramos, probably. Under existing federal jurisprudence, ‘unanimity’ includes unanimity in ‘all elements of the crime.’

      The intent to conceal a separate crime is, indeed, an element of the New York statute, New York Penal Law § 175.10. However, the predicates are called the “means” or ways that the intent can occur. It doesn’t require the predicate crime can be proved or that even the predicate crime occurred, nor does it require jury agreement on which predicate crime was involved.

      For instance, if a robbery criminal statute requires the use of force or the threat of force to convict, then depending on the exact wording of the statute and the relevant judicial precedent, that can be considered a single element or as two elements. However, most jurisdictions see that as a single element with two “means” or ways the single element of the crime can be founded. In other words, the jury may disagree on whether actual force or just the threat of force was used in fact, but can unanimously find the defendant guilty. See De Vonish v. Keane.


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