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The muted frenzy in the courtroom when Donald Trump was convicted of felonies in New York
Just before 4:15 Thursday afternoon, Donald Trump’s voice could be heard, muffled, from beyond the thick doors of Manhattan Criminal Court’s room 1530.
“I want to campaign,” Trump said to the TV cameras positioned in the hallway.
He and his entourage entered the courtroom and took their places at the defense table and in two rows of gallery benches behind.
Prosecutors had already filed in. A few minutes later, Justice Juan Merchan arrived.
Merchan said he brought the two sides to the room because he intended to excuse the jury at 4:30 p.m., the usual close of business in Manhattan Criminal Court. He wanted everyone present to end the proceedings.
“We’ll give them a few more minutes, and then we’ll excuse them,” Merchan said.
Merchan then left for his robing room, saying he’d return shortly.
When a jury that’s heard a trial in room 1530 is deliberating, the outside world is typically informed that the jurors have a question, a note, or a verdict, when an antiquated bell rings.The court officer-enforced silence of the courtroom is suddenly jolted by the noise, like an apartment door buzzer coupled with a tinny bell.
That noise rang out twice Wednesday afternoon, when the jurors requested a read-back of testimony and the judge’s instructions.
Thursday began with the judge re-reading his part of their request. Two court reporters then performed the transcripts for the jury – one in a flat monotone and thick New York accent, the other animatedly reading her lines — playing the parts of David Pecker and Michael Cohen, among others. Then the jury of seven men and five women went back to deliberate.
The rest of the day was filled with radio silence. No bells, no notes.
But they were working, deliberating, reaching a consensus.
It appears that when the jury was told they’d soon be excused, they said they weren’t quite ready to go.
As 4:30 came and went back in the courtroom, the lawyers in the well and the defendant stirred with casual annoyance.
Where’s the judge? And how about the jury?
The defendant had a tight schedule. He’s not only a former president, but the presumptive Republican nominee for president again. His communications director Steven Cheung and other aides were in the second row of the gallery. His son Eric sat in the first row, next to Alina Habba, a spokesperson for the Trump legal effort.
At 4:36, the judge came in.
“I apologize for the delay,” Merchan said. “We received a note. It was signed by the jury foreperson at 4:20. It’s marked as Court Exhibit Number 7.”
The note included an announcement, followed by a very polite request:
‘We, the jury, have a verdict. We would like an extra 30 minutes to fill out the forms. Will that be possible?”
Imagine the sound of dozens of people losing, and quickly catching, their breaths.
Courtroom decorum demands quiet. So a muted frenzy ensued.
Prosecutors whispered, Trump’s team rustled and tapped away on phones. Dozens of reporters’ keyboards clattered. Some grumbled about the room’s poor wi-fi. Courtroom officers admonished the grumblers.
Trump’s demeanor shifted.
He had seemed jovial, chatting with attorney Todd Blanche before news of the verdict. After the announcement, he sat as he had through much of the trial, motionless, a little slumped in his seat, facing straight ahead.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who attended the trial only intermittently, arrived to watch the outcome of perhaps the most scrutinized, and historic, case he’ll ever lead.
Every seat in the courtroom was taken, it was standing room only, and the only people standing were court officers. They paced the aisle and perimeter, keeping the restive silence and patrolling for cellphones, a quiet courtroom’s truest enemy.
The minutes pass by slowly, hushed, as one of the world’s most powerful people awaited his fate.
Just after 5 p.m. Merchan returned. He reread the jury’s note into the record.
“Are we ready to bring out the jury?” Merchan asked
“Yes, Judge,” said prosecutor Joshua Steinglass, who exactly two days earlier at 5 p.m. was merely halfway through a marathon closing argument that kept the courtroom open well into the evening.
“Yes,” Trump attorney Todd Blanche said.
“Bring out the jury, please,” Merchan said.
5:04 p.m.: Through a side door, six alternate jurors walked in and were given front row seats in the gallery. They attended the trial dutifully for weeks, taking notes so copious Merchan complimented them on how seriously they took their jobs, knowing they might not get to weigh in on the final decision.
5:05 p.m.: “All rise,” a court officer bellowed. Trump stood, his arms at his sides.
None of the jurors looked at Trump as they filed past; many had their eyes to the ground. Throughout the trial, as jurors came and went, he stared at them, but they rarely met his gaze. This time he focused straight ahead.
Everyone sat and Merchan recounted the note one more time.
In New York, the first juror seated is automatically the foreperson. He sat silently for weeks, but his moment was approaching. The eyes of the court, and the attention of the world, were about to turn to him.
“Mr. Foreperson,” Merchan said, his voice seeming to waver slightly, “without telling me the verdict, has the jury, in fact, reached a verdict?”
“Yes, they have,” he said.
Eric Trump could be seen briefly shaking his head.
“Take the verdict, please,” Merchan said to the court’s clerk, who asked the foreperson to rise.
He stood, leaning his left arm on a banister as his right hand held a microphone.
“How say you to the first count of the indictment, charging Donald J. Trump with the crime of falsifying business records in the first degree, guilty or not guilty?” the clerk asked.
“Guilty.”
“How say you to count two?”
“Guilty.”
“How say you to count three?”
Guilty.
Trump’s eyes appeared to close, and his head shook slightly, lips pursed and eyes downcast.
Each count corresponds with a different check, invoice or voucher falsified at Trump’s behest, to cover up a conspiracy to influence the 2016 election through unlawful means. So after the third count, it was hard to image any of the remaining 31 being “not guilty.” Still, he had to sit and listen.
“How say you to count four?”
“Guilty.”
“How say you to count five?”
“Guilty.”
“How say you to count six?”
“Guilty.”
“How say you to count seven?”
“Guilty.”
“How say you to count eight?”
“Guilty.”
“How say you to count nine?”
“Guilty.”
“How say you to count 10?”
“Guilty.”
As the foreman read, a number of the jurors kept their eyes down.
“How say you to count 11?”
“Guilty.”
“How say you to count 12?”
“Guilty.”
“How say you to count 13?”
“Guilty.”
“How say you to count 14?”
“Guilty.”
“How say you to count 15?”
“Guilty.”
“How say you to count 16?”
“Guilty.”
“How say you to count 17?”
“Guilty.”
“How say you to count 18?”
“Guilty.”
“How say you to count 19?”
“Guilty.”
“How say you to count 20?”
“Guilty.”
“How say you to count 21?”
“Guilty.”
“How say you to count 22?”
“Guilty.”
“How say you to count 23?”
“Guilty.”
“How say you to count 24?”
“Guilty.”
“How say you to count 25?”
“Guilty.”
“How say you to count 26?”
“Guilty.”
“How say you to count 27?”
“Guilty.”
“How say you to count 28?”
“Guilty.”
“How say you to count 29?”
“Guilty.”
“How say you to count 30?”
“Guilty.”
“How say you to count 31?”
“Guilty.”
“How say you to count 32?”
“Guilty.”
“How say you to count 33?”
“Guilty.”
“How say you to count 34? “
“Guilty.”
One of the key moments in the defense’s case revolved around questioning how much information witness Michael Cohen could have conveyed in a one-and-a-half-minute phone call. Could Cohen have told Trump’s bodyguard about a teenager who had been prank calling him, and then updated negotiations to buy an adult film star’s silence about an alleged sexual encounter?
The defense said, no way. A prosecutor went so far as to demonstrate during closing arguments a hypothetical phone call where that information is conveyed in under a minute.
It’s 5:08 p.m. The jurors had entered, walked past Trump, the judge, Bragg and others, crossing the court and sitting in their assigned seats. The foreperson had addressed the judge, and done a 34-count call and repeat.
All in just three minutes.
They had convicted Donald John Trump. The 45th President of the United States was now a felon.
His body remained motionless, but the corners of his lips sank.
Blanche asked for the jurors to be polled. Each confirmed they agreed with the verdict.
Merchan thanked the jurors, recounting that the trial began with jury selection on April 15.
“That’s a long time. That’s a long time you were away from your jobs, your families, your other responsibilities. But, not only that, you were engaged in a very stressful and difficult task,” Merchan said.
“I want you to know that I really admire your dedication and your hard work. I observed you. As I said before, I observed you during the course of the trial, and I could see how involved you were, how engaged you were, how invested you were in this process. And you gave this matter the attention it deserved. I want to thank you for that.”
Lawyers on the prosecutors’ side of the room nodded in agreement. Trump seemed still to barely move.
All rose again as the jurors were excused. Again, none looked at Trump, and Trump looked at none.
Blanche immediately asked Merchan to set aside the verdict and enter a judgment of acquittal. The motion was denied.
The judge set a sentencing hearing for July 11. He then left.
Trump and his entourage stood to leave, his lips a parabola meeting the sides of his chin. He took a few steps, gently grasped his son’s hand for a moment. He turned and slowly walked toward the room’s back doors.
As he exited the courtroom, he walked heavily, a deep frown on his flushed face.
The trial was over. The prosecutors were packing their briefcases and bags.
From within the courtroom, the muffled but familiar voice of a perennial presidential candidate could be heard, back on the trail, decrying his treatment.
LL Flooring, the flooring company formerly known as Lumber Liquidators, is going out of business after the bankrupt company failed to find a buyer.
LL Flooring filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month, saying it was in negotiations with multiple parties to sell its business. The company also announced that it would close 94 stores across the U.S.
But in a statement on Wednesday, the company said that the talks had failed to yield an offer and that it now plans to wind down the business. Roughly 2,000 workers will lose their jobs.
LL Flooring, which launched in Stoughton, Mass., as Lumber Liquidators in 1994, said it would hold closing sales at its roughly 200 remaining retail locations as the company moves to shutter them over the next 12 weeks.
“Under Chapter 11 rules, the company is required to achieve the highest or otherwise best offer for the company’s business or assets and, in this case, it was determined that a sale of the company’s individual assets, holding closing sales at our stores and winding down the business will deliver the most value to its creditors,” LL Flooring said in its statement.
The company told customers that they may still place orders online and in stores until the closing process is complete and that existing orders for installations will be completed within 30 days. New orders for installation may not be placed after Sept. 6, the company said.
Lumber Liquidators was once the largest specialty vendor of hardwood flooring in North America. But a 2015 “60 Minutes” report revealed that the company, then known as Lumber Liquidators, had dangerous levels of formaldehyde in its flooring. In 2019, LL Flooring agreed to pay $33 million in fines for misleading investors about levels of the chemical in its Chinese-made laminate flooring.
A British woman has been found dead while emergency services search for a man of the same nationality after both were apparently swept away in a flash flood while hiking on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca, Spanish police said Wednesday.
Spain’s Civil Guard said both people were taking a trail that leads through a small canyon to the sea when the storm hit on Tuesday.
The police initially issued the erroneous information that they had found the corpse of the man and were searching for the woman. They later corrected themselves and said it was the woman who had been found dead on Wednesday.
Firefighters collaborated with police in the search.
Spain’s Civil Guard rescued 10 other hikers who were trapped by flash floods in the Tramontana mountains, police said. In video released by the Civil Guard, a body camera showed the search and rescue team locating a group of soaked hikers stuck on a ledge and escorting them into a helicopter, Reuters reported.
Reuters Video
More inclement weather was forecast for the island and parts of Spain’s mainland. The Balearic Islands and a large swath of Spain’s eastern coast was under alert for strong winds and heavy rains.
More thunderstorms over Barcelona forced the organizers of the America’s Cup sailing event to postpone racing. That decision came after lightning struck near a yacht on Tuesday, forcing a race to be abandoned.
Local authorities had called Tuesday for people to be careful due to the “very intense storms” that were expected.
“Avoid outdoor activities (going to the beach, hiking, water sports),” the archipelago’s emergency services warned on social media.
Mallorca remained on alert Wednesday for heavy rains and strong winds, with the national weather office Aemet warning that gusts of over 75 miles per hour were possible.
The Mediterranean island, known for its picturesque beaches and sunny weather, is one of Europe’s most visited destinations. It is especially popular with German and British tourists.
In June, Spanish authorities said a British hiker was found dead after going missing in the Pyrenees, in the northeast of the country, the BBC reported. The 70-year-old man’s body was discovered after his disappearance sparked a search-and-rescue operation.
contributed to this report.
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LL Flooring, formerly Lumber Liquidators, is liquidating after failing to find a buyer
British woman found dead, man missing after flash flood hits Spanish island of Mallorca
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LL Flooring, formerly Lumber Liquidators, is liquidating after failing to find a buyer
British woman found dead, man missing after flash flood hits Spanish island of Mallorca