The jury note contains 4 requests: (1) David Pecker testimony regarding phone convo during investor meeting, (2) Pecker Testimony related to McDougal's life rights agreement, (3) Pecker testimony regarding Trump Tower meeting, and (4) Cohen testimony regarding Trump Tower meeting (via Anna Bower)
Kyle Cheney jumps on the speculation train early, but why not:
"Apply all the caveats here, but first instinct is this is not welcome news for Trump. Prosecutors spent a lot of their lengthy close focusing on value of Pecker's testimony. This is the roadmap they asked jurors to follow."
Judge Merchan asks if the laptop the jurors were given containing exhibits into evidence has Wi-Fi access. When told that it does, he asks if the Wi-Fi can be disabled. (via Anna Bower)
NO VERDICT TODAY: Judge Merchan sends the jury home, since the court is working on compiling the testimony the jury asked for, which he says will take 30 min to read back. Tomorrow deliberations will restart at 9:30 a.m. with the readback of the transcript, plus the jury instructions.
JUSTICE MERCHAN: We received another note. He reads it. The note describes what the jury wants to hear from jury instructions. Justice Merchan says he interprets the note as the jurors wanting to hear page 7-35 of the jury instructions. (via Anna Bower, Lawfare)
Justice Merchan says the jurors also requested headphones for audio.
(This suggests the jurors want to re-listen to some or all of the audio recordings that were admitted into evidence.)
(via Anna Bower, Lawfare)
Those of you who have been following since yesterday will be relieved to know that Judge Merchan has now confirmed for the record that the jurors' laptop does NOT have Wi-Fi access
The jurors, having now heard their instructions again and the requested transcript excerpts, have filed out of Judge Merchan’s courtroom to resume their deliberations (via Anna Bower, Lawfare)
BREAKING The jury has a note:
Can you read the instructions again, but this time with more emotion?
And does it have to be the National Enquirer? Audiences might find it funnier if it was The Quibbler.
The jurors have a laptop because it contains the exhibits that were accepted into evidence in the form that was accepted into evidence. So presumably the recordings that were played to the jury are on the laptop, but the laptop doesn't have a working speaker.
"We want to hear another recording of Stormy Daniels talking about Trump's lack of sexual prowess."
"Relevance?"
"None, really, we just like to laugh about it, and we're kinda stressed right now."
"Granted."
55 pages of instructions without a written copy!
Saw your other thread on this and one stated concern claimed (by attorneys, not you) was that those with better reading skills would have more sway. Oral only seems highly difficult for those with hearing loss or some neurodivergent traits. Brutal.
Ok, well, pages 7-39 are pretty much all the instructions. So, given the jury isn’t allowed to keep a written copy of the instructions, this doesn’t tell me much.
Why don't NY criminal juries get a written copy of their instructions? NY law doesn't forbid it, but the NY high court has found that it requires the consent of parties. In 2005, the NY court system's Jury Trial Project endorsed changing the law. ww2.nycourts.gov/sites/defaul...
Here's the relevant statute that NY's high court has interpreted as requiring consent from parties, though is that the best reading? Draw your own opinion.
People v. Johnson (1993): casetext.com/case/people-...
I have audio processing issues so unless they wanted to read 30 pages, 30 times… and wild that the rules bend toward the lawyers’ preferences here despite more fair (perceived) outcomes w/ the hard copies.
