The jury in Donald Trump’s historic criminal trial has a verdict.
Deliberations began late on Wednesday morning and continued on Thursday after the jury re-heard some testimony and a portion of the jury instructions.
Just before Judge Juan Merchan was going to dismiss the jury for the day, at 4:30pm, they notified the court they had returned a verdict.
They are expected to finish filling out forms within 30 minutes.
Over five weeks, the jury of 12 New York residents heard from 22 witnesses including Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, adult film star Stormy Daniels, former aide Hope Hicks and more.
Prosecutors methodically laid out the chronology of the case over a nearly five-hour address during closing arguments. They tied key pieces of “smoking gun” evidence together, reminding the jury the decision was not about Cohen.
Defense attorney Todd Blanche hammed Cohen’s credibility, labeling him the GLOAT” (or “Greatest Liar Of All Time”)
Trump stands accused of falsifying 34 business records to conceal a $130,000 payment made to Daniels in October 2016 to ensure her silence about a sexual encounter she alleges she had with him a decade earlier.
Mr Trump denies both the affair and the charges.
Alex Woodward is covering the trial for The Independent live from court.
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