Jury requests read-back of Judge Merchan’s instructions for Trump trial deliberations
Read the full instructions to the jury here.
Loading the front page…
Read the full instructions to the jury here.
On the second day of jury deliberations in Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg's fraudulent business records case against President Donald Trump, those jurors requested a read back of Judge Juan Merchan's instructions to them. Those instructions, spanning 55 pages, contain the rules the jury must follow in making their considerations as to whether or not to convict the former president on 34 counts.
The pages the jury requested to hear read back were 7-35. Those pages concern evidentiary inferences, redactions, limiting instructions, presumption of innocence, the fact that the defendant did not testify, the burden of proof, reasonable doubt, the credibility of witnesses (which include a known perjurer and a porn star), as well as notes on motive, witness interest in the outcome, previous criminal conduct of the witnesses, inconsistencies, pre-trial prep of witnesses, accomplices, and a detailed description of the crimes as they were charged.
Those counts concern payments made to Trump's then-attorney Michael Cohen that were classified in bookkeeping records as legal fees. Bragg contends that they were not legal fees but payments to a woman to keep quiet about a sexual encounter, and that therefore the payments were illegal campaign contributions and violate state election law. The payments were made by the Trump Org. after Trump secured the presidential election in 2016.
The full jury instructions can be read here:
Libby’s Desk
Commentary and must-reads from Libby’s desk, straight to your inbox.
TPM Newsletter
The Post Millennial’s top stories, delivered to your inbox.
