Manhattan Prosecutors file criminal charges for Trump re Stormy Daniels case - ongoing discussion here (Guilty on all 34 counts, May 30, 2024)

[Moriarty]

@Spoons

When the prosecution is all finished, the defense gets a turn. It doesn’t have to, but it can call witnesses, and question them on direct examination. The prosecution will get the chance to cross-examine the defense witness, and so on.

When both parties are done with all their witnesses, documents, video and audio recordings, and anything else, then closing statements are made and the matter goes to the jury.

I agree with all of this, with the caveat that the prosecution could choose to call rebuttal witnesses after the defense rests. It’s rare, though. Typically, once the defense rests we go to closing arguments.

I’m curious if the cross of Cohen is going to get more specific to the facts of the case - if it’s going to be at all effective, I’d think that they’d have to try to rebut his specific claims about specific meetings or discussions. If they just go with trying to paint him as disgruntled, but never rebut the facts of the crime, I just don’t see how Trump is acquitted.

@asterion

I was floored that he testified because the cross was not good for him.

Possibly a Hail Mary, especially if the case is damning. What do you have to lose at that point?

If Trump testifies, that’s what I figure his lawyers have decided. “Hey, you think you’re so smart…fine, get up on the stand. It’s not my ass on the line.”

[Love_Rhombus]

@Moriarty

If Trump testifies, that’s what I figure his lawyers have decided. “Hey, you think you’re so smart…fine, get up on the stand. It’s not my ass on the line.”

if they lose, no more plump MAGA jobs for them, though. And they get called out by The Tan Conman. Why risk it for the sunburned biscuit?

Tommy Tuberville on why he attended the trial: "Hopefully we’ll have more and more senators and congressmen go up every day to represent him and be able to go out and overcome this gag order, and that’s one of the reasons we went — is to be able to speak our piece for President Trump,” the right-wing senator said during an appearance on Newsmax.

(Bolding mine).

[hajario]

They’re going to lose anyway.

[rocking_chair]

yep, that is why it is 34 counts and not 36 counts. there was an invoice for jan and feb, and a check for jan and feb. if they has been separated it would up it to 36. here is the breakdown:

no charges for jan,
5 charges for feb 1-5,
2 for march 6&7,
1 for april 8,
3 for may 11-13,
5 for june, 9, 10, 14-16,
3 for july 17-19,
3 for august, 20-22,
3 for sept. 23-25,
3 for oct. 26-28,
3 for nov 29-31,
3 for dec. 32-34.

[Euphonious_Polemic]

Thanks to my time machine googles that I purchased from eBay, I will now present to you the defense team closing arguments:

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury. Thank you for being here and listening to all that was presented here over the past weeks. I’m sure you have all been quite excited to be in the presence of the President of The United States.

President Trump is a very famous man, as you all know. (insert made up statistic of how many people love him). He is also very, very rich. So amazingly rich. (insert made up statistic of how rich Trump is).

Often, a rich famous man have people who try to get money from him. Some of them by very dubious methods. Sometimes, a person of Very Low Moral Character will try to get money from a Rich Famous Man. And that is what is happening here.

The Porn Actress saw her chance to make money, so she fabricated a story about PRESIDENT Trump. He was shocked. SHOCKED! to hear such scandalous lies! But he wanted to protect his family. As anyone else would do. You would want to protect your family wouldn’t you ladies and gentlemen of the jury?

Then we have Convicted Criminal Mr. Cohen. Mr. Cohen as we have heard was desperate to look good to President Trump. So he paid the Porn Actress off to remain quiet. We have heard evidence that he did so. President Trump obviously knew nothing about this, and thought he was merely paying legal fees. President Trump is a Busy Powerful Businessman, and signs many cheques EVERY DAY, and this was not unusual for him. He was duped by the Convicted Criminal and the Porn Actress.

When PRESIDENT Trump did find out, he immediatly got the FBI to investigate and the Justice Department to prosecute the Criminal Mr. Cohen.

And now here he is, the Convicted Criminal Mr. Cohen coming to claim that his crimes were all President Trump’s fault. I think we can all see through his lies, and it’s obvious that this is all a political witch-hunt, a stunt to damage President Trump and prevent him from winning the next election that is rightfully his.

Please find PRESIDENT TRUMP not guilty, as this is your duty as Loyal Americans.

[rocking_chair]

and now the prosecution will raise this with the judge.

all the remarks from trump’s peanut gallery were eerily similar. like they were reading from a script.

[griffin1977]

@hajario

They’re going to lose anyway.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Sure the defense are not knocking it out of the park here. The prosecution has a better chance than the defense at this point, but no one is doomed. It just takes one jurer for Trump to get off.

Let’s not start popping champagne until the judge gives his sentence (and even then we will be in the inevitable appeals, though I will take the win of the felony conviction)

[Procrustus]

@griffin1977

The prosecution has a better chance than the defense at this point, but no one is doomed. It just takes one jurer for Trump to get off.

If there is only one juror holding out, I’d expect the prosecution to retry it. I’ve seen that happen immediately (i.e., the following week) or more likely, a month or two down the road.

[Aspenglow]

@griffin1977

It just takes one jurer for Trump to get off.

It will not get Trump off. It will cause a mistrial, which is not great, but it simply means the case will be retried. I’ve seen that happen within weeks of the mistrial being declared.

ETA: Well ninja’d by @Procrustus.

[griffin1977]

@Procrustus

If there is only one juror holding out, I’d expect the prosecution to retry it. I’ve seen that happen immediately (i.e., the following week) or more likely, a month or two down the road.

I didn’t realize this. I thought 1 not guilty and 11 guilty was a not guilty verdict

Going through all this again in a month would suck (and maybe he’ll let his lawyers actually present a competent defense next time). I would comfort myself in the knowledge that however much it sucks for us, it will suck way more for Trump

[Procrustus]

@griffin1977

I thought 1 not guilty and 11 guilty was a not guilty verdict

No, it has to be unanimous either way. Otherwise, it’s a “hung jury” and a mistrial is declared. The Prosecution could decide to retry the case even if there were 11 votes for “not guilty,” but they typically don’t in that situation. But 11 to 1 for guilty is usually retried. Everything in between takes some thought about what to do, but one hold out is usually seen as an aberration, and they’ll read the tea leaves.

[Joey_P]

@griffin1977

and maybe he’ll let his lawyers actually present a competent defense next time

Why start now? Not only would he carry on doing exactly the same thing that’s about to (potentially) cost him three high profile cases, it wouldn’t surprise me if he stiffed his current legal team and then complained about not being able to hire a new lawyers.

[griffin1977]

@Joey_P

Why start now?

I imagine the sheer dread of going to prison. Even Trump will realize that the only thing that kept him from getting convicted was one random MAGAt who ended up in the jury, he can’t rely on that happening again (in Manhattan)

Those other cases were civil trials, while they were I think more serious than those he’s used to, criminal trials are a whole different kettle of fish, and IMO this is gradually dawning on Trump (hence why he’s abiding by the letter of the gag order at least for now)

[chappachula]

If there is a mistrial and they decide to retry the case, how is the judge chosen? Does the case stay with judge Merchan?
Could Trump demand a different judge, hoping to get somebody more favorable to him?

[Aspenglow]

@chappachula

If there is a mistrial and they decide to retry the case, how is the judge chosen? Does the case stay with judge Merchan?

Where I worked in California, a case once assigned stays assigned. There’s no basis for Trump to demand a different judge – not that it will stop him trying. But the most likely outcome is that the case stays with Judge Merchan.

[Procrustus]

@Aspenglow

. But the most likely outcome is that the case stays with Judge Merchan.

Not knowing NY procedure, I would agree with this. The case typically stays assigned to the same judge.

[DesertDog]

@BobLibDem

Damn, now I want to buy a racehorse and name him Stormy Pecker.

Unfortunately, Jockey Club rules not only require permission from the person – if they’re living – to name a horse after them, the person can’t be “notorious” living or dead. No Billy the Kid, for example.

[Jack_Batty]

Geez, they get beaten for a living and they can’t even have a cool name.

[Yllaria]

But there’s no “Stormy Pecker” for the horse to be named after. It’s a made-up name.

Is there a preference for a racehorse’s name to refer to it’s sire and/or dam? I know that some stables do that, but don’t know if it’s just a practice of those stables.

[Spoons]

We used to have a poster who bred horses, and would solicit suggestions for names from the board. She laid out the rules for names, the horse’s bloodline, and off we went. It was kind of fun, and she used some of our suggestions.

I was a little surprised at the scattershot approach taken by the defense on cross on Tuesday, especially since Blanche started with a question about Cohen calling him (Blanche) a name. Makes me wonder if the defense actually has a credible defense, or whether it’s just taking orders from Trump, who (as he always does) figures that if convicted, he’ll win on the appeal.