When will the Trump jury rule?

After weeks of testimony, 12 New York City jurors sat in a Manhattan courtroom to decide the fate of former President Trump’s hush-money case.

The jury has entered its second day of deliberations and could reach a verdict at any time. They deliberated for four and a half hours on Wednesday.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records related to hush-money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels. She claimed she had sex with the former president, but he denied the encounter.

Here’s what you need to know about how juries reach their verdicts, with prosecutors, the defense and much of the world waiting for answers.

There is no time limit for jury deliberations.

There are records indicating that juries took months to reach a decision.

In 1992, a California jury debated for four and a half months in a civil rights lawsuit against the city of Long Beach.

But in some cases, juries decide quickly.

In 2004, a New Zealand man was found not guilty by a jury within 60 seconds of growing 23 cannabis plants.

The 60-second mark has passed, but it’s unclear whether it will take more than four months for a Manhattan jury to decide Trump’s fate.

Yes.

The jury must agree on two points on each charge: whether Trump is guilty of falsifying business records and whether he did so with the intent to illegally influence the election.

But after both decisions, there was room for disagreement among the jury.

Judge Juan Melchan explained in his instruction that the jury does not need to unanimously agree on which laws Trump and his co-conspirators may have violated to influence the election.

The jury could consider a number of options: violating tax laws, falsifying other business records, violating federal campaign laws.

But ultimately, members must agree that he falsified business records with the intent to conceal a second crime in order for prosecutors to convict him.

If jurors can’t come to any agreement, the judge often asks them to return to the deliberation room and try again, an instruction known as an Allen charge.

The simplest answer is no.

The 55-page printed instructions may not be brought into the deliberation room.

In New York, the parties and the judge must agree to allow printed jury instructions to be provided to the jury.

In this case, neither party reached an agreement.

Jurors can take notes and ask questions as Judge Merchan reads the instructions aloud Wednesday. On Thursday, they asked the judge to repeat some of the instructions — which they can do at any time.

You can read the jury instructions here here.

If the jury has questions about the law or the judge’s instructions, they can ask them.

They can also ask to hear the testimony again.

Jurors alerted the court by ringing bells to indicate they had notes to share.

The note can be a conclusion or a question.

All parties return to the courtroom where Judge Merchants reads the note aloud and answers any questions.

Much of what the public will know about the decision will depend on what jurors choose to share after the verdict.

During the 2018 trial of former Trump adviser Paul Manafort, jurors chose to speak with members of the media to discuss the case and verdict.

There are 12 jurors and six alternates, and it’s possible someone will talk about their experiences.

Once the silent judge dismisses the jury, they will be free to do so.

But jurors may not want to speak out in this case given the intense scrutiny their high-profile decision could face.

No.

At the end of the day, jurors can go home. Before they left the courtroom, Judge Mocha reminded them not to read or talk about the case outside the courtroom.