Maybe the Appeals Court will be more courteous.
Going into closing arguments, it sounded like Trump wanted to use Sheldon Cooperâs milking stool defense, which⌠did not go well.
https://x.com/atrupar/status/1795446014578491705
Justice Juan Merchan just indicated that jurors have agreed to remain late today to conclude closing arguments, even if they run past the usual 4:30 p.m. ending time. It could be a sign that jurors are ready to get on with deliberations and render a verdict.
KYLE CHENEY 05/28/2024, 11:56AM ET
Harry Litman put the probability of acquital at zero with an over/under for a verdict Friday afternoon. By Monday afternoon, hung jury possible.
Really cool and normal stuff to appoint the judges for your own criminal trial. Tell me more about the genius of the founders.
10 Likes
I wonder if the jurors can pop over to Chinatown for lunch like normie jurors can. Thereâs a lot of people in that courtroom who can identify them - including a daily cadre of Trump bootlickers - so they could easily be harassed. But I guess itâs no different from them arriving/departing every day, and I havenât heard about any issues with that.
Team Trump is done
Blanche concluded his closing with a list of â10 reasonsâ for the jury to have reasonable doubt. Among his claims:
- Prosecutors failed to link Cohenâs creation of invoices (for his hush money reimbursements) to Trump himself.
- The National Enquirer was prepared to run some unflattering stories about Trump despite a purported conspiracy to protect his candidacy.
- Trust issues with Cohen mean jurors canât trust the recordings he provided.
- Thereâs no evidence Trump sought to illegally influence the 2016 election.
- Michael Cohen is âthe human embodiment of reasonable doubt.â
KYLE CHENEY
Todd Blanche asked jurors if they are familiar with the acronym GOAT, which stands for âgreatest of all time.â
Michael Cohen, Blanche said, âis the GLOAT: Greatest Liar of All Time.â Upon hearing this, one of the jurors, a young woman, cracked a smile and began laughing softly.
ERICA ORDEN
Shortly after Blanche finished his closing, Justice Juan Merchan lit into the Trump lawyer outside the presence of the jury for making a reference during his closing to potential prison time for Trump. In virtually all criminal cases, jurors are uniformly instructed not to consider potential punishment for defendants â a matter that is reserved for the judge, not the jury â and Merchan said Blancheâs many years of experience as a prosecutor and defense attorney made his decision to reference the potential sentence seem intentional.
Merchan called Blancheâs comment âoutrageousâ and agreed to prosecutorsâ request to give an instruction to the jury to âcureâ the improper statement.
KYLE CHENEY
He looks like a Zoolanderâs Blue Steel aged 30 years by AI.
On Blanche talking to after closing
https://x.com/KatiePhang/status/1795499332784857309
inappropriate.â
Merchanâs tone was tempered but you could tell he was angry with Blanche. Merchan noted that Blancheâs experience as a federal prosecutor suggests that this was no accident on his part.
Thatâs it, heâs getting acquitted because Harry Litman is wrong about everything
I talked with a former prosecutor on Sunday and he said he believes it will be a hung jury and that if he is somehow convicted that it will be reversed.
1 Like
When Cohen admitted to stealing $30k or whatever it was from the Trump Organization, did the Trump team accuse him of lying about that?
Reversed, possibly, but probably doesnât matter by then. Hung jury also possible but doesnât happen often.
Did somebody say McDonaldâs?
1 Like
3 Likes
Honest to blog, if Trump pivots to campaigning on lowering the cost of McDonaldâs he could clinch it.
Prosecution up now
Before Steinglass began his closing argument, Justice Juan Merchan instructed the jury to disregard Blancheâs comment during his closing about sending Trump to prison. âThat comment was improper and you must disregard it,â Merchan said. âIf there is a verdict of guilty it will be my responsibility to impose an appropriate sentence.â
BEN FEUERHERD 05/28/2024, 2:11PM ET
Imagine being next to Littly Italy and Chinatown and having bags of McDonaldâs delivered for lunch. Unfit to hold office.
10 Likes
When I served on a jury we were accompanied everywhere once sequestered. We were always together until we went our hotel rooms. We had two juror volunteers and if anyone other than the server sat near us or tried talking to us in the hotel bar they were told they had to stop and leave. One volunteer would accompany people back and forth to their rooms and the other stayed with the group in the hotel bar until everyone went to their rooms together in a group, no one else was allowed on the elevators.
If the group wanted a smoke break outside the jury room one would wait and clear an area in the courtyard and signal to the other that it was clear and everyone went into the courtyard together.
This was Canada, but I assume itâs probably the same in the US.
I think once sequestered that unless there is a Trump loyalist the guilty verdict will happen within 2-5 hoursâŚbut we were sequestered for 3 days on a first degree murder case that I thought was really straightforward.
4 Likes
Any chance of verdict today