Jury asks for testimony on Trump Tower meeting as it considers verdict
With Kayla Epstein, Madeline Halpert and Nada Tawfik reporting from court in New York
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With Kayla Epstein, Madeline Halpert and Nada Tawfik reporting from court in New York
Live Reporting
Edited by Tiffany Wertheimer and Brandon Livesay
All times stated are UK
Jury must 'set aside any bias or opinions', Justice Merchan says
Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court
It's standard for judges to provide warnings about setting aside bias when reaching a verdict. Those biases can include race, gender, or sexual orientation.
But Justice Merchan takes the time to underline this principle, due to the unique nature of this defendant.
He tells the jury they must "decide this case fairly on the evidence and law”.
They must "set aside any bias or opinions" they might have about Donald Trump.
They must not, he says, allow any such thoughts to influence their verdict.
Jury told it is their responsibility to judge the evidence
Kayla Epstein & Madeline Halpert
"It is not my responsibility to judge the evidence here. It is yours," Justice Merchan tells the jurors.
They alone are the judges of the facts, he says, and they alone are responsible "for deciding whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty".
As the judge reads these instructions, Trump has his eyes closed and is sitting back in his chair.
Jury enters the court
Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court
The courtroom rises to its feet as the jury enters. They have serious expressions and do not look at Donald Trump as they pass the defence table on the way to their seats.
Justice Merchan tells them his jury instructions will take about an hour, and they will not receive written copies of the instructions.
He will not summarise the evidence, the judge adds, during his instructions.
Court is now in session
Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court
Justice Merchan takes his seat at the bench and greets the various parties.
"Good morning, Mr Trump," he says.
After some procedural business, Justice Merchan announces, "Let's get the jury please."
He gives these formalities each day, but this morning, as he is about to send the jury into deliberations, his words take on an extra weight.
Trump joined by eldest son and campaign staff
Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court
Donald Trump strides into the courtroom, followed by a procession of his legal and campaign teams.
His lawyers, Todd Blanche, Emil Bove, and Susan Necheles are here, as is top campaign advisor Jason Miller and spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt.
His eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, is here as well, sitting in the first row of benches behind his father.
Donald Trump arrives
The former US president has arrived at the courtroom.
He did not speak to media waiting outside.
What could happen today in court?
Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court
We’re gearing up for what could be a monumental day here in New York City.
Court is expected to begin shortly, and we’ll get started right away with instructions from Justice Juan Merchan to the jury about how to consider the felony charges against Donald Trump.
After those instructions - which are expected to take about an hour - Merchan will send the jury off into a separate room to weigh the legal fate of the former US president.
From that point on, we play the waiting game - it could be hours or days before the jury comes back in to court to tell the judge that they’ve reached a verdict, or that they remain deadlocked.
They will deliberate until 16:30 local time today (21:30 BST) and pick up tomorrow if there is no decision.
My colleague Kayla Epstein and I will remain in the courthouse for the entire time and bring you any news as soon as we have it.
After six weeks of court, here are the witnesses we heard from
Tiffany Wertheimer
US Reporter
Donald Trump's criminal trial in New York has heard from a long list of witnesses for the prosecution. Here's a reminder of some of the big names:
Stormy Daniels
The adult-film star who claims she and Trump had sex, and she was paid to keep her allegations quiet. At times, her testimony was both humiliating and explicit - and the judge had to tell prosecutors to rein it in.
Michael Cohen
Trump's ex-lawyer who paid Daniels the $130,000 hush-money payment. The defence worked hard to portray Cohen as a Trump-hating liar motivated by fame and money. Cohen described Trump as a micromanager who was well aware of what was going on in his organisation.
David Pecker
The former editor of the National Enquirer tabloid magazine, who told the court about his"catch-and-kill" scheme to buy and supress negatives stories about Trump in the lead up to the 2016 election. He called it"an agreement among friends".
Hope Hicks
Trump's campaign spokesperson during 2016 and close confidant. When the now-infamous Access Hollywood tape - where Trump brags about grabbing women by the genitals - was released, she told top campaign staffers in an email: "deny, deny, deny".
Madeleine Westerhout
Trump's White House aide testified that she would write his tweets and print them out so he could edit them on paper. She got to know his style and that "he liked exclamation points".
Robert Costello
A lawyer and Trump ally who gave legal advice to Michael Cohen. Costello was the main witness to be called by the defence, and prompted a furious rebuke from the judge after he appeared to groan at objections during his testimony.
Another big court day after long session on Tuesday
Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court
Yesterday, court was in session until 20:00 local time in New York (01:00 BST) - nearly four hours longer than usual. That's because closing arguments from each party took a long time.
Trump's lawyer Todd Blanche spoke for about three hours, and then prosecutor Joshua Steinglass spoke for nearly six.
Steinglass's statement in particular seemed to stretch on forever, until the judge gave him a deadline to wrap it up - or he would send the jury home for the night. Steinglass finished with just three minutes to spare.
Legal experts told the BBC that it was unusual for a closing argument to go quite that long.
"Attorneys for both sides want to provide the jurors with ammunition during deliberations to argue for or against a finding of guilt," said Anna Cominsky, a professor at New York Law School. Defence lawyers and prosecutors prepare closing arguments in meticulous detail, but have to calibrate them carefully for each case, she said.
"Too short and you risk failing to properly make your arguments, too long and you risk boring the jury," she added.
"The sweet spot is very hard to find."
What’s this hush-money trial all about?
It’s crunch time for this trial, but let’s take a step back and remind ourselves what’s at the heart of it.
Donald Trump has been charged with business fraud over hush-money payments to ex-porn actress Stormy Daniels. Daniels claims she and Trump had sex, and that she accepted $130,000(£104,500) from his former lawyer before the 2016 election in exchange for her silence about the encounter.
Prosecutors allege Trump had his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, make the payments, and then they claim Trump fraudulently recorded the transaction in his company’s books as legal expenses when in fact he was paying Cohen back for the hush-money payments.
Paying hush-money is not illegal, but the prosecution alleges how the payment was recorded amounts to election fraud.
Since the allegations surfaced in 2018, the former president has denied any sexual involvement with Daniels.
He's facing 34 counts of fraud, and has pleaded not guilty to all of them. Trump denies having sex with Daniels.
Welcome back
Brandon Livesay & Tiffany Wertheimer
US Reporters
Hello, thanks for joining our live coverage.
After a marathon session yesterday, that ran about 10 hours long as lawyers on both sides gave their closing arguments, today is another big court day.
Starting a little later - at 10:00 (15:00 BST) today - Justice Juan Merchan will give his instructions to the jury, and then they will leave the court to begin their deliberations.
We have no idea how long that might take - it could be hours or even days.
Stick with us as we bring you the latest from court.