Jury now deliberating in Trump's criminal hush money trial

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

64% : "As a juror, you are asked to make a very important decision about another member of the community," Judge Juan M. Merchan said, underscoring that -- in the eyes of the law -- the jurors and Trump are peers.
61% : Trump leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes as Merchan told jurors that reading the instructions would take about an hour.
58% : Jurors can communicate with the court through notes that ask the judge, for instance, for legal guidance or to have particular excerpts of testimony read back to them.
58% : Jurors can communicate with the court through notes that ask the judge, for instance, for legal guidance or to have particular excerpts of testimony read back to them.
56% : After Merchan left the bench, Trump turned and walked to chat with his son, Donald Trump Jr. and lawyer Alina Habba.
47% : Cohen also said Trump was involved in an arrangement to repay him and log the payments as legal expenses.
45% : To hold Trump liable for those actions, Merchan said jurors must find beyond a reasonable doubt that he solicited, requested or commanded those people to engage in that conduct and that he acted intentionally.
41% : The hearing will take place in the same courthouse where Trump is currently on trial and where Weinstein was originally convicted in 2020.
41% : But what had to be proved for a conviction?To convict Trump of felony falsifying business records, prosecutors had to convince jurors beyond a reasonable doubt that he not only falsified or caused business records to be entered falsely but also did so with intent to commit or conceal another crime.
39% : At the heart of the charges are reimbursements paid to Cohen for a $130,000 hush money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels in exchange for not going public with her claim about a 2006 sexual encounter with Trump.
39% : Donald Trump posted again on his social media network before he left Trump Tower to head to the courthouse Wednesday morning, making another all-caps rant about the hush money trial, the judge and Michael Cohen.
38% : After jurors left the courtroom to begin deliberations, Judge Juan M. Merchan told Donald Trump and his lawyers that they were required to remain in the courthouse.
38% : The judge has also indicated that he'd give Trump leeway in certain instances to respond to attacks from Cohen.
37% : Donald Trump will not be the only big name appearing before a judge in lower Manhattan on Wednesday -- fallen movie mogul Harvey Weinstein is expected to appear for a hearing related to the retrial of his landmark #MeToo-era rape case.
35% : That's a key component of the prosecution's theory of Donald Trump's hush money case because while Trump signed some of the checks at issue, people working for his company processed Michael Cohen's invoices and entered the transactions into its accounting system.
34% : Prosecutors must also prove that Trump did so with the intent to commit or conceal another crime.
33% : Trump has pleaded not guilty and denies wrongdoing.
33% : He added: "IN GOD WE TRUST!"Trump is prohibited under a gag order from making out-of-court statements about witnesses in the case, and he was previously penalized for comments about Cohen.
32% : He further said that "Mother Teresa could not beat these charges.""What is happening here is weaponization at a level that nobody's seen before ever and it shouldn't be allowed to happen," Trump said.
32% : The panel has a weighty task ahead of them -- deciding whether to convict or acquit Trump of some, all or none of the 34 felony counts he's charged with.
30% : Merchan also reminded jurors of their vow, during jury selection, "to set aside any personal bias you may have in favor of or against" Trump and decide the case "fairly based on the evidence of the law.
30% : "Echoing standard jury instructions, Merchan noted that even though the defense presented evidence, the burden of proof remains on the prosecutor and that Trump is "not required to prove that he is not guilty.
28% : Steinglass further suggested that Trump operated with a "cavalier willingness" to hide payoffs and did so in a way that left "no paper trail.
25% : Prosecutors allege the other crime that Trump intended to commit or conceal was a violation of a state election law regarding a conspiracy to promote or prevent an election by unlawful means.
24% : Prosecutors claim that Trump falsified business records to cover up alleged violations of the election conspiracy law.
24% : Davidson talked about negotiating the deals and what he said was Cohen's frustration after the Daniels deal that Trump still hadn't repaid him.
23% : Trump said, apparently referring to Cohen.
21% : Trump denies the encounter took place.
19% : The historic deliberations followed Tuesday's whirlwind of closing arguments, which stretched into the evening hours as prosecutor Joshua Steinglass accused Trump of intentionally deceiving voters by allegedly participating in a "catch-and-kill" scheme to bury stories that might obliterate his 2016 presidential bid.
19% : Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, charges which are punishable by up to four years in prison.
15% : Prosecutors are required to prove two elements for each of the counts in order to find Donald Trump guilty, Judge Juan M. Merchan told the jurors.
8% : Trump repeated accusations that the criminal charges were brought by President Joe Biden's administration to hit him, as the president's main election opponent.

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