Trump trial: End of hush-money case draws near as jury prepares to deliberate - BBC News
Trump trial live: Jury to begin deliberations in hush-money case - BBC News
(32 minutes later)
Kayla Epstein
Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court
Reporting from court
Yesterday, court was in session until 20:00 local time in New York (01:00 BST) - nearly four hours longer than
Donald Trump strides into
usual. That's because closing arguments from each party took a long time.
the courtroom, followed by a procession of his legal and campaign teams.
Trump's lawyer Todd Blanche spoke for about three hours, and then prosecutor
His
Joshua Steinglass spoke for nearly six.
lawyers, Todd Blanche, Emil Bove, and Susan Necheles are here, as is top
Steinglass's statement in particular seemed to
campaign advisor Jason Miller and spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt.
stretch on forever, until the judge gave him a deadline to wrap it up - or he would send the jury home for the night. Steinglass finished with just three minutes to spare.
His eldest son, Donald Trump
Legal experts told the BBC that it was unusual for a closing argument to go
Jr, is here as well, sitting in the first row of benches behind his father.
quite that long.
"Attorneys for both sides want to provide the jurors with ammunition
during deliberations to argue for or against a finding of guilt," said
Anna Cominsky, a professor at New York Law School. Defence lawyers and prosecutors prepare closing arguments in meticulous detail, but have to calibrate them carefully for each case, she
said.
"Too short and you risk failing to properly make your arguments, too
long and you risk boring the jury," she added.
"The sweet spot is very
hard to find."
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