VakAttack

Great news!

I'm sorry this hurts your feelings. Feel free to support substantial.criminal justice reform, I'll stand with you. As it is, this exact type of thing happens to your fellow citizens all the time and has been deemed legal. I just had a judge sentence a guy to 6 years in prison for a violation of probation where the violation was a new misdemeanor charge...where the State dropped the new charge that triggered the violation.

Is that what you're hung up on? That he wasn't charged elsewhere? That's not a requirement of the statute. Each agency is independent and make their own charging decisions. This happens every day to defendants throughout the country.

....I did. I told you exactly what he was convicted of. 34 counts of first degree falsification of business records. He was convicted of falsifying business records to conceal multiple other crimes, namely falsifying other business records, breaking the Federal Election Campaign Act or submitting false information on a tax return.

There are many crimes that can be either misdemeanors or felonies depending on prosecutorial charging decisions. I know exactly what charges he faced, what are you talking about?

34 counts of first degree Falsifying Business Records. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/final-verdict-form-donald-trump-hush-money-trial-nyc/5462717/%3famp=1

Apparently sentencing is scheduled for July 11. As to his penalty, I've never dealt with NY sentencing directly, but I would guess he'll get a term of probation, but no incarceration. In Florida, I would guess most people would pay a trial tax for going to trial (not supposed to be a thing, but it is) and do some jail on the front end, but I think his political position would shield him from jail. The judge has been letting him get away with stuff that would have had most defendants in jail for contempt of court, and I think that's because of who he is. As to what I personally believe, I think we lock up too many nonviolent offenders as is, and I think probation is fine.

Now the appeals process begins.

Guilty on all counts, apparently.

If there's a hung jury on all counts, the DA has the option to try him again, though I personally doubt they would.

I mean, the case that controls was decided in the 1980s. Are you saying it was a plan hatched back then to get Trump 40 years later?

Yes. The political actors in this case have largely broken down as follows from my observations: Democrats and Democrat adjacent nervous that he will be acquitted, but believing firmly he's guilty. MAGA Republicans and adjacent pre-deciding that only a not guilty verdict or a hung jury is valid, a guilty verdict is meaningless, and believing the whole thing is a political witch hunt. This is not helped by the fact that without videos from the courtroom, it's left wide open to bad faith actors taking commonplace criminal practice things and framing them as trying to attack Trump, like the alternate jurors thing. For me, I would say that I THINK he's probably guilty of these charges, but don't think I particularly care one way or the other on what's alleged; I think the Georgia and documents cases are much more consequential.

While I disagree with Turley's assertions (largely), you're 100% right there will be an appeal, and not unfairly; when new or unusual applications of the law come up, you want appeals to clarify for future guidance.

Only because you're choosing to see it this way. I don't see this trial as having any potential political benefit for the Dems or any negative baggage for Trump. I think the only person who is likely to benefit politically is Trump himself if he wins or gets a hung jury. If he's found guilty, people will discount it for the reasons you're claiming now.

These two are easy: the alternates are included in the judge's responses in case they are called to sit in the actual deliberations, they have all the same information. Written instructions apparently aren't allowed in New York, except in certain circumstances and "remain a minefield for judges" which can end up in convictions being overturned if they're given. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/30/nyregion/written-jury-instructions-trump-judge.html