Donald Trump trial latest: ‘Mother Teresa could not beat these charges’ – Trump downbeat as jury sent to decide fate

Key points

Donald Trump is on trial in New York, accused of falsifying business records over hush money payments to the porn star Stormy DanielsJury sent to deliberate
Explained: What happens now ‘Mother Teresa could not beat these charges’: Trump speaks as jury deliberatesFormer president shuts eyes during judge’s final messageExplained:Can Trump still be president if he’s convicted?|The case summed up – a one-minute read|Everything we heard from Stormy Daniels, Michael Cohen and co|The four criminal cases against TrumpLive reporting by Ollie Cooper

17:09:48 Explained: What happens now

After 22 days, the jury has been sent to begin deliberations. 

They’ve got 34 charges of falsifying business records in the first degree against Donald Trump to address. 

So what happens now?

When will we get a verdict?

Deliberations have begun – and the jury could reach verdicts at any point after that.

Court will adjourn at 4.30pm local time (9.30pm in the UK), at which stage the judge will discuss next steps. 

Where will Trump be while they deliberate?

Trump and his lawyers will remain in the courthouse and will be waiting in an empty courtroom down the hall.

They’ll be remaining there until the jury returns. 

What will happen when they read the verdict?

We initially expected a clerk to read the verdicts, but Judge Merchan’s instructions seemed to indicate that the jury’s foreperson will actually do this. 

Getting through 34 counts could take less than three minutes.

What are the possible verdicts?

Guilty – It only takes a guilty verdict on one count for Trump to receive a criminal conviction.Not guilty – To be acquitted, the jury must decide that Trump is not guilty on all counts.Mistrial – If one juror disagrees with the other 11, the judge would have to declare a mistrial, and the DA would have to decide whether to retry the case.Hung jury – If the jury can’t reach an agreement on the verdict, a hung jury can be declared. A retrial could be held in this case.

When would Trump be sentenced if he was found guilty? 

If guilty, sentencing will come 4-6 weeks after the verdict. 

He faces up to four years in prison, although legal experts expect the former president to avoid jailtime. 

16:48:20 ‘Mother Teresa could not beat these charges’: Trump speaks as jury deliberates

He did not speak earlier, but Donald Trump is now addressing reporters just outside the courtroom. 

As has been standard over the past five weeks, the former president goes after the judge and Joe Biden. 

“Mother Teresa could not beat these charges,” he says, claiming the trial is rigged, without offering any evidence. 

“It’s a very disgraceful situation.”

He then criticises Robert De Niro for the actor’s comments outside court yesterday. 

He describes him as a “broken down fool”. 

Mr De Niro said Trump “should not be allowed” to be president of the United States again after turning up outside his criminal hush money trial in New York yesterday.

Trump then once again bemoans the gag order in place on him, dubbing it a “disgrace”. 

He concludes his speech with a rallying cry for the 5 November election, calling it “the most important day in the history of our country”. 

“In the meantime, this trial is rigged. Thank you.”

16:28:58 Jury sent to deliberate

The 12 New Yorkers that make up this jury have been sent to deliberate.

They’ll be discussing each of the 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree that have been brought against Donald Trump by the DA.

They’ll return and deliver those verdicts if and when they reach a unanimous decision. 

16:25:16 Judge moves to verdicts as instructions wrap up

We’re close to wrapping up these instructions now as Judge Juan Merchan moves to the verdicts.

“You should discuss the evidence and consult with each other… listen to each other,” he tells the jury. 

He reminds them any decision reached must be unanimous “and when you deliberate, you should do so with a view towards reaching an agreement if that can be done without surrendering individual judgment”. 

“You should not surrender an honest view of the evidence simply because you want the trial to end.”

Once decisions have been reached, the full jury will return and the foreperson will then be asked for the verdict on each of the charged counts. 

He reminds the 12 jurors they cannot leave the jury room during deliberations, and they must hand in any mobile phones. 

The plan, he says, is for the jury to deliberate until 4.30pm local time (9.30pm in the UK), and a schedule will be figured out if they require more time. 

He says his instructions are over and calls a bench meeting. 

16:17:35 Analysis: The wins for each side so far

NBC’s Lisa Rubin from court:

As expected from the charging conference, the ultimate charges had one big win for the prosecution and one “kind-of” win for the defence.

The prosecution has to convince all jurors that Trump caused business records to be falsified with an intent to defraud, including the intent to conceal the conspiracy to promote his election through unlawful means. 

But they don’t have to agree on what the unlawful means are -and they have several options to choose from, ranging from AMI’s payment to McDougal and Cohen’s payment to Stormy Daniels to other false business records, like the forms Cohen completed to open his LLC account at First Republic Bank, or even the IRS Forms 1099 through which the Trump Org reported the $420,000 to Cohen as income.

The defence, by contrast, kept out an instruction on the meaning of the word “cause” in the context of the false business records charge. 

The prosecutors asked Merchan to tell the jury that “causing” business records to be falsified means that by setting certain events in motion, it would have been “reasonably foreseeable” to Trump that false checks, invoices, and general ledger entries would result. 

Merchan said no.

But, because Merchan also told the jurors that Trump can be liable for the actions of others with whom he acted “in concert” so long as he aided or solicited their actions and had the requisite state of mind, the prosecutors might end up at the same place.

16:04:40 What the people need to prove for a guilty verdict

For the first of the 34 counts, Judge Merchan reminds the jury that, in order to find defendant guilty of the charge, the people are required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt each of the following two elements:

That on or about 14 February 2017, in New York and elsewhere, the defendant personally, or by acting in concert with another person or persons, made or caused the false records of business records. For this count. it’s an invoice to Michael CohenThat the defendant did so with intent to defraud/intent to commit another crime or aid in commission thereof

As outlined in our previous post, all 34 charges against Donald Trump are for falsifying business records in the first degree. 

The judge has, thankfully, decided to spare the court from reading out the law 34 separate times – promising only to repeat it once more for the benefit of the jury. 

However, if you are interested in seeing a bit more detail, the people have produced this chart to show the individual charges. 

NBC’s Laura Jarrett from court: 

“To say these jury instructions are complicated is a massive understatement. 

“The judge is speaking slowly while walking jurors through all the ins and outs of how a charge that’s normally a misdemeanour gets escalated to a felony, but piecing this all together without being able to refer to a written copy of jury instructions during deliberations could be challenging (or not). 

“Many jurors have been observed taking notes throughout the morning as the judge is talking.”

15:51:40 Judge delving into charges

We’re getting into the nitty gritty now – as Judge Juan Merchan seeks to outline the 34 charges brought against Donald Trump by the DA. 

“The first count is falsifying business records in the first degree,” he begins. 

Under the law, he explains, that must include an intent to commit a crime or to aid or conceal the commission thereof – but the prosecution doesn’t need to prove the crime was in fact committed. 

So, when looking to find whether there was intent – the judge tells them to examine:

What did Trump do or say?Was the result the natural or probable outcome?

He tells the jury that they must be unanimous in finding Trump guilty of conspiring to influence the 2016 presidential election by unlawful means, but they do not have to be unanimous in identifying what the unlawful means were.

A reminder that all 34 charges against Trump are for falsifying business records in the first degree. 

NBC’s Lisa Rubin from court:

“Merchan is now instructing the jurors on the law specific to this case. 

“He has just told the jurors that one person can be criminally liable for the conduct of another when the first person solicits, requests, commands, importunes, or intentionally aided the other to engage in that crime and did so with the necessary state of mind, even if the first person did not personally commit the crime.

“This is the ‘acting in concert’ instruction.”

15:40:54 Trump ‘restless’ as jury told to examine witness reliability

Moving on to the core of the defence’s argument – the reliability (or unreliability) of key witnesses.

A reminder that Donald Trump lawyer Todd Blanche spent much of his time in closing arguments yesterday attacking the character and motivations of Michael Cohen – who has been described as the prosecution’s star witness. 

“You may consider whether a witness has been convicted of a crime,” the judge tells the jury, but adds they are not required to reject the testimony of a witness solely on that basis – they should consider whether that impacts truthfulness. 

Judge Merchan urges the 12 jurors to compare the testimonies of different witnesses and use logic to draw conclusions as to their reliability based on any consistencies or inconsistencies they may find. 

“Even if you find the testimony of Michael Cohen to be believable, you may not convict the defendant solely on that testimony,” he says, adding they should look for corroborative evidence. 

Joshua Steinglass for the prosecution told the jury yesterday he found it “difficult to conceive of a case with more corroboration”. 

NBC’s Jon Allen from court:

“Trump appears to be a little restless as Merchan drones through the lengthy jury instructions. 

“Mostly leaned back in his chair, he adjusts himself from time to time. 

“He’s clasped and unclasped his hands in front of his chest, he leaned forward to take a few sips of water. 

“He seems to primarily have his eyes on Merchan during the reading of the instructions.”

15:31:40 Fundamental trial principles discussed

The judge now moves on to what he describes as the “fundamental principles” of any trial. 

“The defendant is not required to prove that he is not guilty,” Judge Merchan says. 

In fact, “the defendant is not required to prove or disprove anything”. 

He stresses that the people must prove beyond any reasonable doubt that Donald Trump is guilty of the charges brought against him. 

He defines what “beyond reasonable doubt” looks like  – and tells the jury they must only use the evidence shown to them throughout this trial to draw conclusions. 

“You must decide whether a witness told the truth, or is accurate, or instead testified falsely or was mistaken.”

He also instructs the 12 New Yorkers not to speculate or infer anything from the fact that Trump himself did not testify before the court. 

NBC’s Tom Winter from court:

“The judge told the jury that they cannot draw any inferences from Trump not testifying. 

“Trump did not react, sitting back in his chair with eyes appearing to be shut and his head tilted back.”

15:22:34 Judge reminds jury that potential sentence is his to make

Judge Juan Merchan continues his instructions to the jury. 

“You must set aside any personal opinions or bias… you must not allow any such opinions to influence your verdict,” he says.

He reminds the jurors that their role in this case is simply to examine the evidence and decide whether the defendant is guilty or not.

“If there is a verdict of guilty, it will be my responsibility to impose the appropriate sentence,” he says. 

Any inferences must be drawn using logic, not speculation, he says. 

NBC’s Katherine Doyle from court:

“Judge Merchan is speaking slowly, in almost a monotone way with little inflection. 

“He warned jurors at the beginning of his instructions that if he shows any voice inflection, it is not to be seen as that he agrees or disagrees with any part of this instruction.”

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