Jury reaches verdict in NY v. Trump trial

The New York jury empaneled in the NY v. Trump case has reached a verdict. The jury will soon enter the courtroom and announce what it has decided.Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged former President Donald Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree.

Trump pleaded not guilty to all counts. Judge Juan Merchan will invite the jury in to read its verdict.Prior to receiving the jury’s note around 4:20 p.m., Merchan had indicated he would excuse the jury for the day at 4:30.

Former President Donald Trump appears in Manhattan Criminal Court, Thursday, May 30, 2024, in New York. Jury deliberations in Donald Trumps criminal hush money trial enter a second day as jurors navigate the weighty task of evaluating the former presidents guilt and innocence alongside the facts of the case.  (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, Pool)

Prosecutors needed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump falsified business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels, a pornographic performer, in the lead-up to the 2016 election to silence her about an alleged affair with Trump in 2006.

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Michael Cohen, Trump’s former attorney, was the prosecution’s “star witness.”He testified that he personally made the $130,000 payment to Daniels using a home equity line of credit in an effort to conceal the payment from his wife. Cohen said he did this because Trump told him to “handle it” and prevent a negative story from coming out ahead of the election.

But Trump’s defense attorneys maintained that the president never directed Cohen to do so.