Joining us, msnbcs Yasmin Vossoughian outside the courthouse. Temidayo agangawilliams, a former Prosecuor And Defense Attorney Caroline Pull lisi. Yasmin, Jury Instrekss under way right now. Whats going on . Jury instructions under way ahead of Opening Statements, jose and ana. 45 minutes for the prosecution, 25 minutes for the defense. Theyre doing that because theres going to be a lot of details, much of a timeline, a lot of dates and they dont want to overwhelm The Jury in the Opening Statements process. Judgments made from the bench that i want to talk about with you quickly, first, when it comes to the evidence if, in fact, the former president decides to testify, judge juan merchan is allowing six various cases to be decided if Donald Trump it was. Talking about the trump payroll
Getting specific. At the end of the day, when the jurors deliberate, theyll have to go through each of these 34 counts and have to take a vote and say do we all agree beyond a reasonable Doubt Theyve met their burden. The Prosecution Cant get away from these details. That is the case. I think its great theyre putting it right up front. The jurors have to understand that. If they prove the case, they have to find them guilty. Why do you think theyre reading from the indictment . Well, i think, one, its already been language that theyve all agreed upon on how to describe this case. In an Opening Statement you have to be careful not getting into argument. It helps you from going beyond your skis, as the phrase goes. This is language that the judge and the Defense Cant Object to you putting forward. Now, in another way if youre describing it in a way outside of that, you could get into trouble. You may not be accurate
Its very unfair Juror Number nine returned to court today, worried about media attention. They went into private quarters with the judge along with attorneys from both sides. They had a conversation. They came out. Juror number nine is remaining intact. We saw that court was going to go into recess at 2 00 p. M. Instead of 12 30 now because of a dental emergency for one of the jurors. It was going to be from 2 00 p. M. Because of passover. 2 00 p. M. Recess tomorrow as well. 12 30 today. Let me lay out what Opening Statements will look like. The prosecution will paint a story about the final days leading up to the november election, the desperation from the former president to win the election, the release of the Access Hollywood tape. They cannot submit the tape itself or play the tape for the jury, but they can submit the transcript as evidence. Theyre going to talk about David Pecker approaching Michael Cohen talking about how Stormy Daniels is going to come forward
He says is this is Donald Trump that you have seen for many, many years on tv and in other places. He is in some ways larger than life, but he is also here in this Courtroom Doing what any of us would do, defend himself. He kind of has to be there, doesnt he . He absolutely has to be there. The Judge Wouldnt let him waive his right to be there. If im the defense here, to teb die owes point about what the prosecution will do, a common Thing Defense attorneys will do is get ahead of the unsavory characteristics of their defendant but te tell the jury, you dont have to like my client. He may have done unseemly things in the past. They even prepared jurors in Voir Dire asking questions about how do you feel about people that potentially cheat on their wives. Would you be able to keep an open mind with respect to them. Oftentimes youll see Defense Attorneys say, look, my clients
Asking one of the attorneys to tell todd blanche something. Blanche is the one who is giving the statement, the Opening Statement for the Defense Team right now. So maya, it sounds like a lot of this is very sort of Off Script as to how Opening Statements go. First question, why would there have been an objection. They are trying to paint this sinister, it is a crime, entering into a Nondisclosure Agreement is perfectly legal as something that the prosecution had objected to. I cant get in the mind of the prosecution here. I completely agree with temidayo, its not a common thing to stand up and object, but it sounds like theyre getting very concerned about that blanche is taking up too much of a role of the judge and telling The Jury what the law is. It is only the judge that