NEW YORK — Jurors in former President Donald Trump‘s New York hush money trial will resume deliberations on a verdict for a second day, one day after they were given instructions on how to approach their pivotal decision.
Trump was seated inside the courtroom by 9:30 a.m. Thursday, sitting between defense attorneys Todd Blanche and Emil Bove while looking downward toward the courtroom desk. Before resuming deliberations, Judge Juan Merchan reread a portion of the instructions that he read the jury on Wednesday before deliberations began.
The judge went back over the section of jury instructions related to how jurors are supposed to consider evidence and draw inferences from the evidence. Jurors sent a third note to the judge Thursday morning specifying what part of the instructions they wanted to hear again.
On Wednesday, Merchan said that “in evaluating the evidence, you may evaluate any fact that was proven or any inference that a fact is true.” He offered an example about drawing an inference that it rained overnight by waking up to wet ground outside, despite not seeing the rain firsthand.
The 12-member jury also asked to hear three portions of previous testimony from former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker. Those snippets include Pecker’s testimony about a phone call he said he had with Trump, the $150,000 payment to former Playboy model Karen McDougal for life rights to her affair story about Trump, and his testimony about an August 2015 Trump Tower meeting at which, prosecutors said, Pecker, Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen, and Trump discussed a conspiracy to suppress negative stories during the election.
Jurors also asked for one more portion of testimony from Cohen, about interactions he and Pecker had with Trump about the Trump Tower meeting.
The former president is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records related to reimbursements for a hush money payment Cohen made to porn star Stormy Daniels in the final days of the 2016 election cycle.
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There is no expected timeline for a verdict, and the judge has said the jury can continue discussing until 6 p.m. Thursday if needed. Jurors could use the entire day to deliberate and resume considerations on Friday.
Jurors could decide multiple outcomes, including a mixed verdict, guilty on all counts, and acquittal on all counts. There’s also the possibility they may not reach a consensus on all or some of the charges.
