What to know about the first day of jury deliberations in the Trump hush money trial

CNN —

The jury in Donald Trump’s New York hush money trial finished its first day of deliberations Wednesday without reaching a verdict after meeting for more than four-and-a-half hours.

Jurors will return on Thursday morning at 9:30 a.m. ET to resume deliberations, but the 12 men and women will also again hear from Judge Juan Merchan.

Judge Merchan is seen in this court sketch from Wednesday.

Related article Read the jury instructions from Judge Juan Merchan in the Trump hush money trial

Wednesday afternoon, the jury asked to hear a readback of four separate parts of witness testimony, including from former National Enquirer chief David Pecker and Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen. Jurors also want to re-hear Merchan’s instructions on the law that he had given them earlier Wednesday morning.

The jurors requested four pieces of testimony: Pecker’s testimony about his phone conversation with Trump in June 2016, his testimony about not finalizing Trump’s payment to AMI for Karen McDougal’s life rights, his testimony about the August 2015 Trump Tower meeting, and Cohen’s testimony about the Trump Tower meeting.

The testimony the jurors are requesting relates to interactions Trump had directly with Pecker. The testimony from Cohen and Pecker about the 2015 meeting concerns the meeting where Pecker agreed to be the “eyes and ears” of the campaign, while Pecker testified in his call with Trump in June 2016 that he discussed the McDougal story and whether Trump should buy it.

The jury will ultimately decide whether a former president is convicted of felony crimes for the first time in American history – at the same time that Trump is running against President Joe Biden for president this November.

Judge’s