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thewayneA former president was convicted on all 34 charges after 7.5 hours of deliberation by the jury.
Honestly, I did not expect a sweep, I was expecting some of the charges to fail. But he badly hampered his defense, then really messed up with slandering the judge repeatedly in addition to directly disrespecting the jury by not standing when they came in. He didn't do much to try to present himself as a likable, respectable person.
It's possible that this was the tactic all along, to accept this as a loss and tie it up for eternity on appeal. Regardless, his status as a convicted felon is now cemented.
There is one thing that would wipe away the convictions, though: if he dies before appeals are exhausted. That's what happened to the head of Enron.
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/donald-trump-found-guilty-hush-money-trial-1235029425/
ETA: He was convicted of falsifying business records, i.e. trying to conceal/structure the payments to Stormy Daniels to hide them from discovery. The issue of him having had sex with Stormy was completely irrelevant. Just like his second trial re E. Jean Carrol, he had already been found guilty of slandering her, the defense in both cases were arguing the wrong points.
Normally under NY State Law, falsifying business records is a misdemeanor, but if it was "done to “commit another crime or to aid or conceal” another crime — in this case, violations of election laws", then it becomes a Class E felony, potentially punishable by prison time of 1-4 years.
The likelihood of this being the sentence is not high, more probable of a fine and probation, but it's still a felony conviction. Which means, as I recall, he cannot vote in Florida until after the probation is over and the fines are paid.
Honestly, I did not expect a sweep, I was expecting some of the charges to fail. But he badly hampered his defense, then really messed up with slandering the judge repeatedly in addition to directly disrespecting the jury by not standing when they came in. He didn't do much to try to present himself as a likable, respectable person.
It's possible that this was the tactic all along, to accept this as a loss and tie it up for eternity on appeal. Regardless, his status as a convicted felon is now cemented.
There is one thing that would wipe away the convictions, though: if he dies before appeals are exhausted. That's what happened to the head of Enron.
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/donald-trump-found-guilty-hush-money-trial-1235029425/
ETA: He was convicted of falsifying business records, i.e. trying to conceal/structure the payments to Stormy Daniels to hide them from discovery. The issue of him having had sex with Stormy was completely irrelevant. Just like his second trial re E. Jean Carrol, he had already been found guilty of slandering her, the defense in both cases were arguing the wrong points.
Normally under NY State Law, falsifying business records is a misdemeanor, but if it was "done to “commit another crime or to aid or conceal” another crime — in this case, violations of election laws", then it becomes a Class E felony, potentially punishable by prison time of 1-4 years.
The likelihood of this being the sentence is not high, more probable of a fine and probation, but it's still a felony conviction. Which means, as I recall, he cannot vote in Florida until after the probation is over and the fines are paid.
no subject
Date: 2024-05-31 10:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-05-31 11:56 pm (UTC)Well, unless the FL judge is replaced, she's going to drag out that trial beyond eternity. The SCOTUS is holding up the election tampering trial, the GA trial is proceeding apace, I want to say that's supposed to start in August? The Arizona trial is just starting, and he's not yet a named/subpoenaed defendant in that one. I did see something, I should have read it or at least filed it away, that additional charges are being considered in one of the trials, but I don't know what trial or what the charges are.
no subject
Date: 2024-06-01 04:36 am (UTC)It's bothersome to have justices and judges who are sandbagging for the defense.