CNN
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When prosecutors make their final pitch Tuesday to New York jurors for why they should convict former President Donald Trump of a slew of business crimes, they’ll face the burdensome task of weaving together weeks of testimony and evidence they say proves Trump committed felonies to help his 2016 presidential campaign.
The closing arguments in Trump’s historic hush money criminal case will give prosecutors from District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office an opportunity to explain to the 12 jurors how each witness they called and piece of evidence they presented bolsters their case for a guilty verdict on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
That was already going to be a complicated task for a trial that’s been underway since mid-April and frequently featured witnesses going over the dry details of business recordkeeping and other mundane testimony. But prosecutors will have an extra degree of difficulty with a long break ahead of closing arguments, as jurors will have been away from the case since Tuesday.
“There’s plenty of moments during trial where you’re getting a piece of testimony or you’re introducing a document or other exhibit, and the jury is thinking, ‘Well, how does this fit in?’ That’s unavoidable. It’s your job at closing to weave it all together, and to make it make sense. And so that will be especially the case here because this is a long trial,” said CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig, a former federal and state prosecutor.
“This, more than even your typical case, is going to be a closing case,” he added.
Former New York prosecutor Bernarda Villalona said prosecutors will use their closing arguments “to tell the story from the very beginning.” She said that unlike their opening statement, which lasted about 40 minutes, prosecutors’ final remarks in the case could go on for several hours and feature a visual aid like a PowerPoint presentation to help walk the jury back through some of the key evidence.
“The boring is over. The boring part was having them sit down to hear it,” added Villalona, referring to the 12 jurors. “Interestingly enough, the boring part is actually the most important part of the case because the boring part is what gives you the documents. The star witness in this case are the documents, and the documents speak for themselves.”
Trump’s attorneys will present their closing arguments first on Tuesday, followed by the arguments from prosecutors. Once both sides finish their arguments, Judge Juan Merchan will instruct the jury as to the charges it must consider against the former president; then, the jurors will begin their deliberations. The judge has said he expects this to happen on Wednesday.
The closing arguments will begin exactly a week after the defense rested its case on Tuesday and more than five weeks after opening statements were delivered and the first witness, former tabloid executive David Pecker,