Donald Trump: Moment Republican nominee for president learned his fate
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“We, the jury, have a verdict.” As the judge – Justice Juan Merchan – read out the jurors’ handwritten note and made the announcement, there was silence followed by a flurry of activity.
Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, was about to learn his fate.
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Moments earlier, Trump and his legal team were in good spirits, with defence lawyer Todd Blanche laughing.
Trump – in a white shirt and bright blue tie – chatted to his son Eric and his counsel while scanning the courtroom gallery.
He sat low in his chair, as he had done throughout the trial, at times with his eyes shut.
He occasionally conferred with his lawyers – whispering, chatting and smiling – and even laughing at one point.
But when the courtroom learned the jury had reached its verdicts – the smiles on the Trump table turned sour, and tension filled the air.
Pic: Steven Hirsch/pool via Reuters
The team looked deadly serious and Trump now sat with his arms crossed in front of his chest.
He looked po-faced and resigned, and any levity appeared to have dissipated from the defence table.
His lawyers were hardly speaking.
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The number of security personnel increased in the already packed and warm courtroom as the jurors entered and took their seats.
It took the jury less than two days to find Trump guilty on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
The verdict was read quickly. It followed nine-and-a-half hours of deliberations.
Trump sat motionless as the verdict was delivered. He looked upset, then glanced over at the jurors.
He remained stone-faced as Judge Merchan announced the 11 July sentencing date.
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Every juror had to walk in front of Trump, who they had just found guilty on all counts, to leave the room.
As they filed out past Trump – not a single one looked at him. Some looked down.
But Trump stared at every one of them.
He did not change his expression. He remained stone-faced, bordering on scowl.
There were cheers and jeers outside the New York City court as Trump became the first former US president to be convicted of a crime.
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New Yorkers cheer Trump’s guilty verdict
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Sky News’ US correspondent James Matthews said: “There’s a calm that descends on a gathering outside court buildings at verdict time.
“A crowd needs quiet to hear the news because it doesn’t know where it’ll come from first.
“And so, opposite the Manhattan courthouse, a whispered hush settled over Collect Pond Park as it became clear the jury was about to deliver its verdict.
“In a crowd of several hundred, this was a shared experience of a moment they were all invested in – only half got their return.
“On the anti-Trump side, there were cheers that grew in volume as word spread and phones pinged – on the other, there was a slumped defiance.
“Outside the criminal building, it was America’s political division in a microcosm and it wasn’t going to be healed by events inside.”
