The 12 jurors in Donald Trump’s criminal trial in New York began deliberating on Wednesday to find a historic verdict that could tip the American presidential campaign into a completely unknown scenario.
Manhattan court judge Juan Merchan, who has presided over this unprecedented trial against a former president of the United States since mid-April, ordered the jurors to withdraw behind closed doors, not without warning them against any temptation to judge. facts based on their “personal opinions”.
“You have an obligation to set aside [vos] personal opinions whether favorable or against the accused”, warned the magistrate while giving his instructions to the jury of 12 American citizens who must decide the judicial fate of their former Republican president (2017-2021) and who aspires to become one again next January 20.
Donald Trump, 77, wearing a black and gold polka dot tie, then left the courtroom, with the judge ordering him not to leave the Manhattan courthouse building during deliberations.
Campaigning for the November 5 presidential election, forced since mid-April to come to the courtroom every day, the Republican billionaire then stormed to the press against “a scandalous situation” and denounced “prosecutions [pénales] rigged “.
“Mother Teresa”
Even “Mother Teresa could not brush aside these accusations,” he said, estimating that even a saint such as the famous Albanian-Indian Catholic nun, who died in 1997 and was canonized, could not convince the justice system of her innocence.
On his Truth Social network, Donald Trump also castigated a “junk court!” » and a “corrupt and conflicting” magistrate.
Tuesday was a marathon day on the 15th floor of the Manhattan Courthouse.
The jury listened to more than three hours of pleadings from the defense demanding the “quick, well done” acquittal of its accused, then five hours of indictment from the prosecution demanding his conviction for having “subverted democracy”.
Six weeks of debates in New York were dominated by stories of sex, money and politics.
The jury will have to decide one question: was Donald Trump guilty of 34 falsifications of accounting documents, intended to hide a payment of $130,000 to porn actress Stormy Daniels to avoid a sex scandal at all? end of his 2016 presidential campaign?
Unanimous
In the event of a positive response, the 2024 presidential campaign would fall into an unprecedented scenario, with one of the two major candidates finding themselves under the considerable weight of a criminal conviction.
Donald Trump could appeal and still run on November 5 against Joe Biden, the 81-year-old outgoing Democratic president.
Jurors’ deliberations can take several days. They will have to be unanimous to declare Donald Trump guilty or not guilty.
If, after a certain time, they reach a conclusion of disagreement, the trial will be canceled and completely redone, a respite which could prove sufficient for Donald Trump, because it will probably be difficult to organize new debates before the presidential election.
The defense therefore only needs to convince one juror not to convict the Republican Party candidate.
“Conspiracy”
During a five-hour indictment on Tuesday, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass tried one last time to convince the jurors that behind the accounting falsifications, “the heart of this affair is a conspiracy and a cover-up” to win the November 2016 presidential election. against Hillary Clinton.
The money was used to buy Stormy Daniels’ silence about a sexual relationship she claims to have had in 2006 with the billionaire, when he was already married to his wife Melania, an episode denied by Donald Trump.
The sum was paid to the actress by Michael Cohen, the former confidant of the businessman and Republican leader.
Once Donald Trump was in the White House, in 2017, Michael Cohen was reimbursed, using, according to the prosecution, false invoices and entries disguised as “legal fees” in the accounts of the Trump Organization , hence the prosecution for accounting falsifications.
But for the defense, this thesis does not hold. Donald Trump, now “leader of the free world” and busy with much more important problems, did not know the details of the paperwork when he paid his lawyer.
If he is found guilty, the judge would pronounce the sentence in several weeks. It could go up to four years in prison, but the magistrate can decide on an alternative sentence, such as a suspended sentence with probation.