Judge Merchan begins delivering jury instructions
Members of the jury, I will now instruct you on the law.
The trial is further inching towards its final phase with judge Juan Merchan commencing jury instructions.
He tells jurors “these instructions will take about an hour”.
Key events
Judge Juan Merchan’s instructions to the jury regarding election law means that basically, some jurors could think that Donald Trump violated federal election law, and others could think that he was violating tax laws with his puffed up repayment to Michael Cohen.
They don’t have to agree on how, specifically, he violated state election law – but, if they are to find guilty, they do have to unanimously agree that he did.
Judge Juan Merchan is now explaining the New York election law that Donald Trump is accused of violating.
Merchan says the jury need to be unanimous in determining whether he broke this state election law but they do not need to be unanimous in how, specifically, he broke the campaign law.
Judge Juan Merchan is now going over how jurors can determine whether a defendant had the intent to commit a crime.
In doing so you may consider the person’s conduct and all of the circumstances surrounding that conduct … what if anything did the person do, or say … what result, if any, followed the conduct, and was that result the necessary, natural, and probably consequence of that conduct.
“A general intent to defraud any person or entity suffices,” Merchan says of what jurors can consider when weighing whether the defendant had an intent to defraud.
Judge Juan Merchan is now explaining the specifics of the law Donald Trump is accused of breaking – and the idea of how one could be found guilty even one didn’t break the law directly themself.
That happens when “one person engages in conduct which constitutes an offense, another is criminally liable for such conduct when, acting for the state of mind required for that offense, he or she solicits, requests, commands, importunes or intentionally aids […] in that conduct,” he says.
To find a defendant guilty of committing a crime via others, “you must find beyond a reasonable doubt, first, that he solicited, requested, commanded, importuned or intentionally aided the person to engage in that crime and second, that he did so with the state of mind required for that offense…”
Donald Trump appears to have swapped fatigue for thirst. He could be spotted taking several sips of water.
“Some of the factors you may want to consider in evaluating the testimony of a witness,” judge Juan Merchan said, include:
Was the testimony of the witness plausible, likely to be true, or was it implausible not likely to be true? Was the testimony of the witness consistent, or inconsistent, with the other testimony in the case?
“Did the witness have a conscious bias, hostility, or some other attitude” that could have affected the testimony? “Did the witness have unconscious bias?”
“You may consider whether a witness had, or may have had, a motive to lie,” Merchan said.
You may consider whether the witness hopes for, or expects, a benefit from […] testifying.
As Juan Merchan’s instructions proceed, courtroom observers are again confronted by the questionable idea that everyone is equal under the law.
For example, court officers, pursuant to the judge’s courtroom orders, routinely bark warnings at the press corps that their phones must be put away. Phones cannot be seen at all, even if on silent, lest one be at risk for removal from the courtroom.
Moments ago, however, noise blared from a device that in a Trump supporter row. The noise appeared to emenate from between Trump lawyer Alina Habba and Donald Trump Jr.
Merchan looked in that direction, and some court officers looked in that direction, and there was a brief pause, but nobody said or did anything.
Trump’s cronies routinely take out their cell phones whilst sitting in rows behind him, even if they’re not attorneys (most aren’t).
Jury instructions – which judge Juan Merchan will not provide public copies of until he’s done addressing jurors – go into granular detail about how jurors can consider evidence.
With Michael Cohen, for example, he tells jurors that the former Trump consigliere’s guilty pleas can be considered for context, but “you may not consider that in [deciding] whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty”.
With some text messages, for example, they can also be used for context as well – not as proof of innocence or guilt.
Judge Juan Merchan tells jurors that they should not read into anything he said as indicating his opinion on the case – or the defendant’s innocence or guilt.
It is not my responsibility to judge the evidence here. You are the judgers of the facts.
Merchan says the possibility that Donald Trump could wind up jailed is not something they should think about.
“You may not speculate with matters related to sentencing or punishment,” Merchan said, saying it’s “my responsibility” to determine this, should a guilty verdict come down.
A group of pool photographers snapped photos of Donald Trump as he sat at the defense table.
There was crouching and neck craning and arm stretching in an effort to land what could be a watershed photo of the ex-president: Jurors are expected to soon weigh his fate.
Judge Merchan begins delivering jury instructions
Members of the jury, I will now instruct you on the law.
The trial is further inching towards its final phase with judge Juan Merchan commencing jury instructions.
He tells jurors “these instructions will take about an hour”.
Judge Juan Merchan has entered the courtroom.
They are due back in court at 10am – of course, it’s just past 10 at the moment, but court tends to move at its own pace or run late.
When proceedings do start back up, Judge Juan Merchan will instruct jurors on the law, which is basically a roadmap for how they should deliberate the case.
