Legal Experts: The Trump Trial Jury Instructions Are Not Normal

Townhall ^ | 05/29/2024 | Katie Pavlich

[SeekAndFind]

Closing arguments in the trial of former President Donald Trump in New York City, where he is charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, have concluded and Judge Juan Merchan has given the jury their instructions. The instructions were given verbally and jurors won't receive printed copies, although they can ask questions.

According to legal experts, Merchan's standards for a conviction are abnormal and do not require jurors to reach a unanimous decision on the charges. Further, jurors don't have to determine what crime was committed.

"Judge Merchan has ruled that the jury does not have to agree on what that crime is. The jury could split into three groups of four on which of the three crimes were being concealed and Merchan will still treat it as a unanimous verdict," George Washington University Law Professor Jonathan Turley, who has been inside the courtroom, writes. "The jury has been given little substantive information on these crimes, and Merchan has denied a legal expert who could have shown that there was no federal election violation. This case should have been dismissed for lack of evidence or a cognizable crime."

...So four can find a state election violation, four can find a federal election violations and four can find tax violations and it will still be treated as a unanimous verdict.— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) May 28, 2024

The notion that Merchan's jury instructions could somehow fail to specifically instruct jurors about the second substantive "in furtherance of" crime—and its underlying statute, including the requisite mens rea/intent, etc.—is absolutely batshit insane.— Josh Hammer (@josh_hammer) May 28, 2024

This is wrong-jury must be unanimous on every element (it can’t be 4 believe one predicate and 8 believe another); judge is wrong


pic.twitter.com/E74nbBEmKR— Greta Van Susteren (@greta) May 25, 2024

Otherwise the instructions have been "standard."

[Organic Panic]

Didn’t the rotten judge in the Derrick Chauvin case basically claim Chauvin must be found guilty and gave the jury the option to use a lesser charge of murder rather than what Chauvin was charged with?

[The_Media_never_lie]

We should be able to read the jury instructions. Why is this done in secrecy?

[The_Media_never_lie]

What is this? Ranked choice verdict?

[Sequoyah101]

If Trump were black or democrap he would not be tried but if he were tried and convicted blacks and democraps would burn NY to the ground.

[9YearLurker]

Couldn’t this be appealed up to the compromised USSC?

[Reno89519]

They are apparently released to public, just not in writing to the jurors. There is a PDF on New York Times with paid membership. A quick search I could not find another yet. Maybe someone else has found it?

[Starboard]

Exactly. They get to make up the rules as they go along or interpret existing ones to benefit them whenever convenient.

They win either way.

[BigEdLB]

[Reno89519]

Here is link to the jury instructions:

https://www.nycourts.gov/LegacyPDFS/press/PDFs/People%20v.%20DJT%20Jury%20Instructions%20and%20Charges%20FINAL%205-23-24.pdf

[knarf]

[SeekAndFind]

RE: We should be able to read the jury instructions. Why is this done in secrecy?

See the link provided in Post #29 of this thread

[kenmcg]

This corrupt POS banana republic judge-should be in jail.

[Vaduz]

According to legal experts, Merchan’s standards for a conviction are abnormal.

Gee Moe wonder what the jury is like?.

[CivilWarBrewing]

A big "FU" to the SCROTUS for allowing this SH*T show to get to this point. They should've ALREADY intervened and shut this Biden HACK JOB circus down where TRUMP'S DUE PROCESS RIGHTS HAVE BEEN VIOLATED BY JUDGE MERCHAN COUNTLESS TIMES!

[SaveFerris]

Yep

[matt04]

However, the general public can look at it on the New York State website and read it for themselves, however, if you are in the jury, your SOL and have to do it by memory or ask questions.

No human can fully comprehend a document of that length without reading it for themselves.

[Scott from the Left Coast]

What is normal in America these days?