Trump, DA’s Office Make Their Closing Arguments To The Jury - TPM – Talking Points Memo

We’ll know if Blanche is in trouble if he starts quoting from ‘Green Eggs and Ham’ in an attempt to forestall jury instruction.

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What’s the matter with these people? Instant gratification or what?

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Judges hate declaring mistrials. They have all sorts of tactics to get the jury to a verdict, but the most powerful one is locking them up. It is extremely difficult to be one person with doubts against eleven, especially when all twelve of you have lives you want to get back to. Two people with similar doubts can reinforce each other, but a lone holdout is in a really difficult situation.

I know: I’ve been a jury holdout in a trial that hinged on mens rea. It was a tax evasion trial, and the defendant was an idiot. But the IRS filed its criminal information letter after notifying the defendant for one year that his return was inadequate. The IRS notification said nothing about previous years of similar returns, but the criminal information charged for three years of failure to file. The jury instructions told us that what mattered was what the defendant believed at the time of filing. He testified that he’d relied on bad advice but at the time he signed the returns he believed they were proper. We ended up convicting him on the one count the IRS notified him about, and hung on the other two counts. We were in deliberation for about 18 hours over three days. It’s not an experience I care to repeat. I could not have held out if I’d been alone, but there was one other person who saw it the way I did (that the IRS fucked up). Reading minds is really difficult.

This case is different: Hair Furor’s team hasn’t put forward any sort of defense.

I think that J. Merchan’s reaction to Costello’s insolance was not overboard. He didn’t do anything beyond scolding Costello. He did tell Costello that his behavior was contemptuous, implying that Costello was in contempt of the Court at that time. This happened in the judge’s presence, so he would have been justified in locking Costello up. Costello is an attorney and an officer of the Court: he should know and understand what proper decorum is and comply.

If it becomes an issue on appeal, it will be interesting to see how the appellate court rules. Courts rely entirely on the respect of the citizenry, and jurists at every level are aware of that. I have a difficult time believing that an appellate court would gloss over Costello’s behavior.

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and reminds the parties not to offer interpretations of the law.

Looks like Merchan is watching out for what I’m concerned about.

Trump defense leading the jury into jury nullification, by cramming faulty interpretations of law into their minds. Are the parties allowed to object during these arguments?

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If objections are allowed, I’d like to suggest a betting pool of how many sustained objections take place before the courtroom is emptied for the day.

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The jury has had nearly a week off from this - last session ended last Tuesday. I would think it wouldn’t be a stretch to stay until completion.

The sooner this all gets completed, the sooner they can go back to their lives.

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I’m suspicious of collusion having taken place between Team Trump and Fox. It would be SOP for Trump. A trial is just another PR effort.

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You must keep your expectations low so that you are never disappointed. I see no other reason for your “prediction”.

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What kind of collusion are you considering?

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I think the important part is to remember, regardless of the outcome, is that Team Trump is prepared to grift fundraise off the result; they don’t actually care how it turns out. (As demonstrated by their failure to engage in any meaningful participation in the actual trial.)

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The thing is unwell

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Yeah, there will be just a pile of diarrhea where he once was.

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Empty Greene’s stupid is showing again.

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Guilty is a foregone conclusion on Mango’s part. They hope to somehow nullify the conviction in the minds of Republican voters. In my humble but freely available opinion, they are screwed.

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I’m hoping for a complete sweep of guilty verdicts for the Orange Buffoon.

When the first “guilty” verdict is read, what is his reaction?

  1. He sits down, dumbfounded.
  2. He lashes out uncontrollably from his seat.
  3. He has a massive heart attack.
  4. All of the above.

Thoughts? Premonitions? Hopes?

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So excited hearing that!
We were in the very last pocket of homes to have power restored following the May 16th storm. Eight days without power. Our condo isn’t positioned where we can run a generator. Lost a lot of food. Was just yesterday that we began restocking the fridge and freezer.

And I have given a bit of thought as to whether this type of weather occurence might become ‘more routine’. That we might experience this on a regular basis. Quite a scary thought.

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IOW, she’s awake on a day ending in ‘y’.

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Yes.:thinking:

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It’s a two-fer: generate cash/ vailed campaign donation and now it can’t be seized in judgment.

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“Be there” when
the verdict comes down,
all 34 counts on
the orange-face clown.

On your TV or phone
or however you’re apprised,
you’ll hear it second-hand
since it won’t be televised.

Many will cheer
and many will be riled,
no matter the results
I guarantee “, will be wild”.

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