When will the verdict in Donald Trump’s ‘Hush Money’ trial be known?
Jurors in Trump’s trial for falsifying records will begin deliberating on Wednesday. When will the verdict be known? If guilty, can he go to jail?
This Tuesday, Donald Trump’s defense and the Manhattan prosecution gave their final arguments in the trial of the ‘Stormy Daniels’ or ‘Hush Money’ case against the former president. Now that the closing arguments have concluded, the trial will continue with jury deliberations.
Judge Juan Merchán will give instructions to the jury o Wednesday morning, after which the twelve members will begin their deliberations in the jury room away from public view, but when will the verdict be announced? What are the possible scenarios?
When will the verdict of Donald Trump's trial for the 'Hush Money' case be known?
Deliberations will begin this Wednesday, May 29, but there isn’t expected any verdict to be announced until perhaps the end of next week. In the case, Trump faces 34 charges of ‘falsification of business records in the first degree’, to which he has pled not guilty.
Among the scenarios is that all 12 jurors find Trump guilty. If convicted, he would face a maximum sentence of four years behind bars on each count, or a lesser sentence of probation and a fine. Although the possibility exists, experts say it is unlikely that the Republican will face a prison sentence.
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The second scenario is that Trump is acquitted. However, on the other hand, if the jurors cannot reach a unanimous agreement on a verdict (guilty or not guilty), the result will be a hung jury, also known as a deadlocked jury.
In this case, Judge Merchan may order them one or two more times to try again to reach a verdict. If a verdict is still not reached, a mistrial would be declared. Prosecutors would then have to decide whether they want to retry the case.
What is the 'Stormy Daniels' or 'Hush Money' case?
The case was brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who claims that Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer, made a $130,000 payment to the adult film actress on behalf of the former president.
According to Cohen’s testimony, the payment was to cover up an affair Trump had with Daniels, whose official name is Stephanie Clifford. With the payment it was hoped that the news would not come to light so as not to harm Trump’s 2016 presidential candidacy.
The case centers on allegations that Trump falsified internal business records of his private company to cover up an attempt to illegally influence the 2016 election through payments that silenced allegations potentially damaging to his candidacy, i.e. , silence Daniels.
Cohen, for his part, was charged by federal prosecutors and pled guilty to violating campaign finance laws through the hush money payments and perjuring himself in Congress. He admitted to acting on Trump’s instructions to make the payments and covering up for him out of loyalty. Cohen was released from prison in 2021.