Former President Donald Trump did not appear pleased with New York County Judge Juan Merchan’s jury instructions Thursday morning.
“Mother Teresa could not beat these charges, but we’ll see. We’ll see how we do. It’s a very disgraceful situation,” Trump told reporters after the jury began deliberations in his criminal trial.
“These charges are rigged. The whole thing is rigged,” he added.
“We’re going to take back our country from these fascists and these thugs that are destroying us with inflation and with everything they do,” Trump continued, “allowing 15, 16, 17 million people into our country, totally unvetted, totally unchecked.”
“We’re going to bring back our nation,” Trump vowed. “November 5. Remember, most important day in the history of our country.”
“In the meantime, this trial is rigged,” he said.
…After the federal election violation, Merchan says that the second crime is falsifying other documents. This creates a redundancy with the NY election violation on the falsifying documents. It allows the government to allege the falsification of documents as a felony and then…
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) May 29, 2024
…So a dead misdemeanor for falsifying business records was zapped back into life by alleging that under NY election law 17-152 it was done to influence the election by the unlawful means of falsification of business records. It is so circular as to produce vertigo. So the jury…
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) May 29, 2024
Merchan finished jury instructions before lunch. The jury will deliberate until members reach a verdict. They will be dismissed on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. until Thursday.
According to CNN, the jury instructions include:
- They must not make a decision based on biases or stereotypes;
- They must set aside personal differences;
- They must not speculate how long sentencing may be or what the punishment might be – that’s up to the judge;
- They can’t hold it against Trump for not testifying;
- The “people must prove beyond a reasonable doubt every element of the crime.” He reminds the jury it must not rest its verdict on speculation;
- They can consider whether a witness hopes to receive a benefit related to the trial, or if they have an interest in how the case ends;
- They cannot convict Trump on Michael Cohen’s testimony alone because he’s an accomplice, but they can use his evidence if corroborated with other evidence;
- The jury must be unanimous if they find Trump guilty on each count – on whether he committed the crime personally, acted in concert with others or both;
- They must determine if Trump conspired to promote someone or prevent them from public office by unlawful means;
- They should deliberate with a view toward reaching an agreement, without surrendering individual judgement;
- Jurors notes cannot be used in place of evidence;
- The foreperson will deliver the verdict for each count after deliberations are over;
- They must surrender their phones, and can only discuss the case when all 12 of them are together.
Today Stalinist clown judge Juan Merchan, on behalf of the Biden regime/campaign, issues his edits in the form of jury instructions undoubtedly aimed at securing at least one conviction on any of the 34 phony charges against President Trump. Biden is poised to give a dictator’s…
— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) May 29, 2024
This violates every principle of the Due Process Clause and criminal process known to man. (Or of the Privileges & Immunities Clause according to Justice Thomas’s view.)
1) Merchan’s approach violates fair notice. And it’s not remotely fair notice to tell a criminal defendant… https://t.co/TmitvCcE4C
— Jeff Clark (@JeffClarkUS) May 29, 2024
One juror who sat for six weeks listening to the evidence presented in a Manhattan courtroom against Trump reportedly appears sympathetic toward him.
Some legal experts, such as constitutional scholar Jonathan Turley, expect the jury will either render a guilty verdict or produce a hung jury that results in a mistrial.
Many legal experts believe there is no good case against Trump.
Increasing numbers of Americans see Trump’s criminal trial as irrelevant to his fitness for reelection, a CNN poll recently found, and only 13 percent believe Trump is being treated the same as other “criminal defendants.”
A majority of Americans doubt Trump’s criminal trial will conclude with a fair outcome, the CNN poll found. Only about one-third of American adults believe Trump did anything illegal regarding the case, an AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll found in April.
The case is New York v. Trump, No. 71543-23, in the New York Supreme Court for New York County.
Wendell Husebo is a political reporter with Breitbart News and a former GOP War Room Analyst. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality. Follow Wendell on “X” @WendellHusebø or on Truth Social @WendellHusebo.
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