(NEW YORK) – Donald Trump’s lawyers wrapped up their defense Tuesday without the former president taking the witness stand at his quiet criminal trial in New York, bringing the case closer to the moment when the jury would begin deciding his case. destiny.
“Your Honor, the defense rests,” Trump lawyer Todd Blanche told the judge after testimony from a former federal prosecutor who was called to attack the credibility of the prosecution’s star witness.
The jury was sent home until May 28, when closing arguments are expected, but attorneys were expected to return Tuesday to discuss how the judge will instruct jurors about the deliberations. Trump, the first former US president to be tried criminally, did not stop to speak as he left the courtroom and ignored a question about why he was not testifying. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee has previously said he wanted to appear on the witness stand to defend himself against what he claims are politically motivated accusations.
After more than four weeks of testimony, jurors could begin deliberating as early as next week to decide whether the former president is guilty of 34 criminal counts of falsifying business records.
See more information: What will happen if Trump is convicted? Your questions, answered
After the defense rested, Judge Juan M. Merchan told jurors that the court session could take place Tuesday night to accommodate prosecution and defense summaries — the last time the jury would hear from either side. Merchan told jurors that he expects his briefing on deliberations to take about an hour, after which they can begin discussing the case, possibly as early as May 29. court and not discuss the case among themselves.
Merchan noted that normally summaries would immediately follow the defense resting its case, but he expects summaries in this case to take at least a day, and given the impending Memorial Day holiday, “there is no way to do everything that is necessary” before then. .
“See you in a week,” Merchan said.
Prosecutors accused Trump of a scheme to bury negative stories to avoid damaging his 2016 presidential campaign against Democrat Hillary Clinton and then falsifying internal business records to cover them up. Trump has pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing in the case.
The accusations stem from internal Trump Organization records in which payments to Cohen were marked as legal expenses. Prosecutors say it was actually refunds for a secret $130,000 payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels to prevent her from going public before the 2016 election with allegations of a sexual encounter with Trump. Trump says nothing sexual happened between them.
“They don’t have a case,” Trump said Tuesday morning before the court adjourned. “There is no crime.”
After jurors left on Monday, defense attorneys pressured the judge to dismiss the charges before jurors even began deliberating, arguing that prosecutors had failed to prove their case. The defense suggested that Trump was trying to protect his family, not his campaign, by suppressing what he says are false and salacious allegations.
Defense attorney Todd Blanche argued that there was nothing illegal about requesting a tabloid’s help to publish positive stories about Trump, publish negative stories about his opponents and identify potentially damaging stories before they are published. No one involved “had any criminal intent,” Blanche said.
“How is it criminal to hide a false story from voters?” Blanche asked.
Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo responded that “the evidence from the trial overwhelmingly supports every element” of the alleged crimes and said the case should go to the jury.
The judge did not immediately rule on the defense’s request. Such remote requests are often made in criminal cases but are rarely honored.
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Long reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Jill Colvin and Michelle Price in New York; Meg Kinnard in Columbia, SC; and Eric Tucker and Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington contributed to this report.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
