The jury in former President Donald Trump’s business records trial was dismissed for the day on Wednesday after deliberating for hours and requesting to be given testimony from David Pecker — the former publisher of the National Enquirer — and former Trump attorney Michael Cohen.
Before being dismissed, the jury signaled that it had a note for Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing Trump’s business records trial. Trump is currently facing 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree regarding payments made to adult entertainment star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential election. He has pleaded not guilty.
Jurors requested to have testimony from Pecker’s phone call with Trump. Pecker was the first person to testify in the trial. His tabloid reportedly engaged in “catch and kill” practices to bury damaging stories about Trump.
The jury also requested to have Pecker’s testimony regarding a decision not to finalize and fund former Playboy model Karen McDougal’s life rights, Pecker’s testimony regarding a Trump Tower meeting, and Cohen’s testimony on a meeting at Trump Tower.
The judge has just dismissed the jury for the day. They’re back at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow. It appears they will get the testimony and instructions reread to them tomorrow.
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) May 29, 2024
Jurors also sent a note requesting to “rehear the judge’s instructions.”
Deliberations in the trial began shortly after the jury received instructions from Merchan.
Various reports came in on what exactly Merchan reportedly told the jurors. Post-summation instructions inform the jurors that whatever verdict on each of the 34 counts they consider, it “must be unanimous.”
“Your verdict, on each count you consider, whether guilty or not guilty, must be unanimous; that is, each and every juror must agree to it.”
CNN reported that the jury needed to be “unanimous if they find Trump guilty on each count – on whether he committed the crime personally, acted in concert with others or both.”
John Roberts, the co-anchor of America Reports on Fox News, reported that Merchan informed the jurors that they did not need unanimity in order to convict Trump.
Judge Merchan just told the jury that they do not need unanimity to convict. 4 could agree on one crime, 4 on a different one, and the other 4 on another. He said he would treat 4-4-4 as a unanimous verdict.
— John Roberts (@johnrobertsFox) May 29, 2024
George Washington University law school professor Jonathan Turley reported from the courtroom that Merchan had told the jurors that “there is no need to agree on what occurred. They can disagree on what the crime was among the three choices. Thus, this means that they could split 4-4-4 and he will still treat them as unanimous.”
The court is expected to resume on Thursday at 9:30 a.m.
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