New York — The judge presiding over Donald Trump’s criminal hush money trial dismissed jurors for the day on Wednesday after they deliberated for over four hours without reaching a verdict for the former president.
Deliberations are set to continue at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday. Before adjourning, the jurors requested to rehear Judge Juan Merchan’s guidance on how to evaluate the evidence in the case.
The jury also requested to rehear testimony from former AMI CEO David Pecker and Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen. Merchan indicated that the court was in the process of obtaining the requested testimony by 4:09 p.m. local time, and that it would take around 30 minutes to recite the jury instructions.
It remains unclear whether the jury seeks to rehear the entirety of Merchan’s instructions or just a segment. Merchan noted that they could make that determination on Thursday morning.
The jury will also decide Thursday if they want to deliberate until 6 p.m. local time, according to Fox News.
The 12-member jury, with an additional six alternate members, was dismissed after deliberating for over four hours, having first heard Merchan’s instructions on Wednesday morning.
Jurors are charged with determining whether Trump is guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election.
Trump, who is contending with three other criminal cases while campaigning for a second term, has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The trial against Trump is already historic but will reach an even more unprecedented level if the presumptive Republican nominee is convicted of a felony.
The jury could return with several outcomes, including a mixed verdict, guilty on all counts, or acquittal on all counts. There is also the possibility they may not come to a consensus on all or some of the charges.
