The prosecutorial misconduct committed by this DA and judge are profound.
We’ll have to wait to find out exactly what, since Merchan had told the jurors they didn’t even have to agree on what exactly Trump did wrong: They could individually choose any of the (vague) theories the prosecution presented as to what other crime was committed to turn the supposed misdemeanors into felonies.
The violations of basic fairness in the trial were legion: Merchan wouldn’t let the defense call an expert witness to testify that no federal campaign-finance law was violated; he routinely shut down the defense while letting the prosecution get away with gross violations, including telling multiple outright lies in its closing statement.
Not to mention indulging graphic and utterly irrelevant testimony from Stormy Daniels.
In this context, you can see why jurors didn’t realize that the only testimony indicating criminal intent on Trump’s part (something utterly necessary for a guilty verdict) came from Michael Cohen, a confessed serial liar who admitted to a personal vendetta against the defendant.
Nor see that Bragg’s team didn’t even show that Trump had actually falsified any business records.
All that should get the verdict tossed on appeal, but for now President Biden’s campaign can and will call Trump a “convicted felon” every minute through Election Day.
That is: Bragg and Merchan have completely prostituted the justice system for a purely political purpose.
Trump falls victim to a prostituted court of law — more reason for the court of public opinion to vote out Biden in November
Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg and Judge Juan Merchan got their way Thursday, maneuvering a jury of former President Donald Trump’s peers into finding him guilty of . . . something.We’ll have to wait to find out exactly what, since Merchan had told the jurors they didn’t even have to agree on what exactly Trump did wrong: They could individually choose any of the (vague) theories the prosecution presented as to what other crime was committed to turn the supposed misdemeanors into felonies.
The violations of basic fairness in the trial were legion: Merchan wouldn’t let the defense call an expert witness to testify that no federal campaign-finance law was violated; he routinely shut down the defense while letting the prosecution get away with gross violations, including telling multiple outright lies in its closing statement.
Not to mention indulging graphic and utterly irrelevant testimony from Stormy Daniels.
In this context, you can see why jurors didn’t realize that the only testimony indicating criminal intent on Trump’s part (something utterly necessary for a guilty verdict) came from Michael Cohen, a confessed serial liar who admitted to a personal vendetta against the defendant.
Nor see that Bragg’s team didn’t even show that Trump had actually falsified any business records.
All that should get the verdict tossed on appeal, but for now President Biden’s campaign can and will call Trump a “convicted felon” every minute through Election Day.
That is: Bragg and Merchan have completely prostituted the justice system for a purely political purpose.
Trump falls victim to a prostituted court of law — more reason for the court of public opinion to vote out Biden in November
Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg and Judge Juan Merchan got their way Thursday, maneuvering a jury of former President Donald Trump’s peers into finding him guilty of . . . something.
nypost.com