Seymour Flops
Diamond Member
I know the media likes to call it "The Hush Money Case" or "The Porn Star Case," but it is about neither of those things.
It happens that we can have a pretty good idea of what the jury instructions will be, because New York provides its judges with a boilerplate set of instructions for each crime. In this case the crime is:
The instructions are lengthy but I'll try to excerpt the most relevant parts:
I don't think the judge will want to follow that model. It sets the bar far too high for the prosecution, given the case it has presented so far.
The three biggest weaknesses of the case are:
a ) lack of evidence that Trump made the records or caused them.
b) lack of intent to defraud, since defraud in New York means that:
This conduct must involve the making of a false statement, a material omission, or the concealment of information with the intent to deceive.
The false statement or omission must be made in connection with a transaction involving property or services, and it must be made with the intent to deprive the other party of the property or services or to obtain property or services from the other party by means of false or fraudulent pretenses.
criminaldefense.1800nynylaw.com
c) The lack of "another crime," that was needed to bump this case to a felony and dodge the Statute of Limitations.
Of course the weakness that permeates the case is the credibility of the witnesses. Note that thus far, the more information a witness has had, the less credible of a person they have been. The one witness so far who could not fairly be called a professional liar is Trump's assistant who only stated that she vaguely remembers seeing Stormy Daniels at Trump Tower. The lead witness publishes a tabloid that pretty much openly profits from printing lies and the predicted "star witness," has convictions for lying under oath.
So Judge Merchan will hate reading those jury instructions. Unfortunately, he won't have to. The model instructions are only a guide:
Criminal Jury Instructions (CJI)
I myself am not that confident in the learned and sound discretion of Merchan. I believe that he will create a modified version of those instructions designed to steer the jury to a guilty verdict somehow fitting the facts presented. He will almost certainly downplay the "beyond a reasonable doubt" aspect. I believe he may try to hedge on or downplay the requirement to find all elements proven.
If it leads to a conviction, which I doubt, it would certainly be overturned at the first appeal. But, Merchan will have his scalp, for which he will no doubt be handsomely rewarded through the quasi-legal bribes paid to his daughter and her campaign business.
It happens that we can have a pretty good idea of what the jury instructions will be, because New York provides its judges with a boilerplate set of instructions for each crime. In this case the crime is:
The instructions are lengthy but I'll try to excerpt the most relevant parts:
I don't think the judge will want to follow that model. It sets the bar far too high for the prosecution, given the case it has presented so far.
The three biggest weaknesses of the case are:
a ) lack of evidence that Trump made the records or caused them.
b) lack of intent to defraud, since defraud in New York means that:
This conduct must involve the making of a false statement, a material omission, or the concealment of information with the intent to deceive.
The false statement or omission must be made in connection with a transaction involving property or services, and it must be made with the intent to deprive the other party of the property or services or to obtain property or services from the other party by means of false or fraudulent pretenses.
New York Penal Law § 190.60: Scheme to Defraud in the Second Degree
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c) The lack of "another crime," that was needed to bump this case to a felony and dodge the Statute of Limitations.
Of course the weakness that permeates the case is the credibility of the witnesses. Note that thus far, the more information a witness has had, the less credible of a person they have been. The one witness so far who could not fairly be called a professional liar is Trump's assistant who only stated that she vaguely remembers seeing Stormy Daniels at Trump Tower. The lead witness publishes a tabloid that pretty much openly profits from printing lies and the predicted "star witness," has convictions for lying under oath.
So Judge Merchan will hate reading those jury instructions. Unfortunately, he won't have to. The model instructions are only a guide:
Criminal Jury Instructions (CJI)
The Criminal Jury Instructions are a set of model charges intended as a guideline for trial judges. The instructions are, of course, based on statutory provisions and prevailing case law. The Committee does not receive adversarial briefs or arguments on unresolved legal issues related to a charge, and accordingly does not necessarily attempt to resolve such issues. Further, the facts of a particular case may call for a modification of a CJI2d model charge. Of necessity, such determinations are left to the learned and sound discretion of the trial court.
CRIMINAL JURY INSTRUCTIONS
The official home page of the New York State Unified Court System. We hear more than three million cases a year involving almost every type of endeavor. We hear family matters, personal injury claims, commercial disputes, trust and estates issues, criminal cases, and landlord-tenant cases.
www.nycourts.gov
I myself am not that confident in the learned and sound discretion of Merchan. I believe that he will create a modified version of those instructions designed to steer the jury to a guilty verdict somehow fitting the facts presented. He will almost certainly downplay the "beyond a reasonable doubt" aspect. I believe he may try to hedge on or downplay the requirement to find all elements proven.
If it leads to a conviction, which I doubt, it would certainly be overturned at the first appeal. But, Merchan will have his scalp, for which he will no doubt be handsomely rewarded through the quasi-legal bribes paid to his daughter and her campaign business.
