“Judge Merchan has yet to release the public version of jury instructions, however he previously decided last week that the jurors do not need to agree on a predicate crime in order to find President Trump guilty of trying to hide one.’
Not exactly.
His ruling was that the jury did not have to be unanimous in their findings on WHICH of the various predicate crimes he committed.
Do the defense attorneys know the jury instructions or do they have to wait until Tuesday to find out? Do they learn them after they make their closing arguments?
Thanks for the comment.
The entire situation is such crap.
It could occur that each one of the jurors picks a different “predicate crime,” and the effect of that would be that out a menu of “possible” crimes, that 5 of 6 jurors in EACH instance find that there is reasonable doubt: a solid acquittal in every in instance. And yet this judge thinks that can then lead to a conviction combined with a separate crime?
It is outright criminal of this judge.
Moreover, it is BS on its face for any judge to give 700 pages of instructions to a jury. Anything that long is automatically prejudicial.
And jury nullification is ONLY that, nullification.
There is no option for jurors to just throw up hands and declare a defendant guilty because of fatigue, confusion, mis-instruction, judicial pressures, various forms of threats, politics presented as crimes, etc.
And on a “felony” that has never been prosecuted even once in this history of this so called “law.”
We the People will only accept a not-guilty verdict.