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Will a former president be convicted by a jury of his ‘peers’ for the first time in history?
It’s just a matter of days until a verdict is reached in Donald Trump’s historic hush money criminal trial.
Closing arguments will begin Tuesday morning as the case comes to a close nearly six grueling weeks later.
Prosecutors have a high bar to meet to convince a 12-person New York jury that Trump conspired to help his 2016 election campaign by paying porn star Stormy Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet about their alleged sexual encounters. .
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s team will gather all the evidence and witness testimony they say is enough to charge Trump with 34 felony counts of “falsifying business records.”
It’s just a matter of days until a verdict is reached in Donald Trump’s historic hush money criminal trial.
The jury has heard shocking testimony from former Trump fixer-turned-enemy Michael Cohen, National Enquirer editor David Pecker, and porn star Stormy Daniels herself, who graphically detailed her sexual experiences with the former president.
After testimony from 22 witnesses, some salacious and some boring, and pages of documents and evidence, it all comes down to whether the prosecution or defense has made its case better.
DailyMail.com breaks down what to expect this week as the case comes to a close:
Trump’s defense will present its case first
The defense will present its closing arguments first on Tuesday, in the opposite order of the trial.
Trump’s legal team is expected to present a strong defense of the former president, distancing him from Cohen’s payments to Stormy Daniels.
They will also reiterate several of their strongest points, that hush money payments are not illegal and that Trump only wanted to avoid his family’s humiliation over Stormy’s alleged affair claims.
Perhaps the strongest strategy Trump’s team will employ is to attack the credibility of the prosecution’s “star witness,” Michael Cohen.
The defense only needs to convince one jury out of 12 in total that there is insufficient evidence “beyond a reasonable doubt” to prove Trump is guilty of giving the former president a victory in the case.
After more than five weeks of jury selection, testimony from 22 witnesses, and pages of documents and evidence, it all comes down to who has made their case best.
If at least one person resists convicting Trump, the judge would declare a “hung jury,” triggering a mistrial.
“It’s disguised as innocence,” Trump attorney Todd Blanche previously insisted of the former president during his opening statements.
‘And that cloak of innocence does not abandon President Trump today. He does not abandon him any day during this trial. And he will not abandon him when everyone deliberates. You will find out that he is not guilty.
The prosecution will re-examine evidence and testimony.
The prosecution will follow the defense during arguments, which are expected to last several hours.
Bragg’s team is expected to analyze all the evidence they presented during the 19 days they presented their case.
That includes 11 checks, 11 invoices and 12 vouchers that prosecutors say are evidence of how Trump ‘falsified’ records to reimburse Cohen for payments to Stormy Daniels.
They will also have to reject the defense’s argument that Cohen is an untrustworthy “liar.”
Last week, Judge Juan Merchán warned that final arguments could last until a second day.
Trump’s team will attack the credibility of the prosecution’s ‘star witness’, Michael Cohen
“In a case like this, which is quite long, the summaries will not be quick,” he said.
The court is usually free on Wednesdays, but the judge has indicated that the procedure will continue then so as not to prolong the deliberations any further.
The judge will instruct the jury on how to deliberate.
Once closing arguments are complete, Merchan will instruct the jury for about an hour on how to deliberate behind closed doors.
Last week, Merchan considered the instructions that will be read to the 12 jurors who will decide Trump’s fate during a ‘loading conference.’
In a victory for Trump, the judge said he would tell the panel to treat Trump fairly during their deliberations.
Donald Trump shook his head in disapproval as the trial judge criticized his lawyer for being “disingenuous” during a crucial session on instructions to be given to the jury.
The instruction was outside the normal language used to charge the jury with a concession to the defense.
Wording plays a key role in how the jury deliberates and experts believe can win or lose a case.
For more than an hour, Trump’s lawyers and lawyers from the Manhattan district attorney’s office argued over the details of the text, in some cases down to single words.
Jury deliberations begin and verdict will be reached
Once the judge dismisses jurors to work toward a settlement in the case, which is expected Wednesday, they could remain seated for days.
If they have questions, they can go back and ask the judge for an explanation or read certain points of the testimony.
Trump stormed the trial and the judge on Tuesday when the jury was sent home for a week.
Judicial experts say the longer the jury deliberates, the better it will be for Trump.
The outcome of the case could be resolved in three ways: acquittal, conviction or mistrial.
If Trump is found guilty, his team will likely begin the appeals process, which could take years.
Trump, if convicted, is unlikely to be sentenced before the 2024 election in November.
