Jurors began deliberations Wednesday in Donald Trump’s hush money trial, kicking off a crucial and delicate phase in the case that will see 12 ordinary citizens decide whether a former and potentially future president becomes the first to be convicted.
Twenty-two witnesses took the stand over six weeks, as the seven men and five women who make up the jury sat for more than 80 hours of testimony in New York City. Then, after nearly eight hours of closing arguments, the judge presiding over the case, Juan Merchan, began instructing the panel of 12 New Yorkers on Wednesday on how to weigh whether the Manhattan district attorney’s office had left any room for doubt in what prosecutors deemed a “mountain” of evidence.
