Former Department of Justice spokesman Anthony Coley said prosecutors should be concerned that the presence of two lawyers on former President Donald Trump’s jury could contribute to an acquittal.
The panel of 12 jurors includes a young corporate law attorney and a civil litigation attorney in the trial pertaining to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s allegations Trump falsified business documents to conceal a payment to porn star Stormy Daniels. Coley on “Jonathan Lemire Reports” said the lawyers on the jury may overthink the case and have an outsized influence on other jurors, which could hurt the prosecution. (RELATED: ‘Didn’t Make Any Sense’: Jonathan Turley Says Michael Cohen May Have Committed Perjury … Again)
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“I think what I would worry about if I’m on the prosecution case, and I say this tongue in cheek, because I ran communications at arguably the largest law firm in the world, the U.S. Justice Department, I do worry that there are lawyers on this jury, not one but two lawyers,” Coley said. “And by my own experience, lawyers can sometimes be overly analytical. They can be hyper technical. I worry that the nonlawyers on this jury may rely on the lawyers who, quite frankly, don’t have expertise in this area of the law.”
Bragg’s star witness was Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen, who legal analysts said faced serious credibility issues while testifying, including admitting he stole from his previous boss. Coley said the defense’s strategy will be to target Cohen.
“I think their strategy can really be summed up in four words,” Coley said. “Don’t believe Michael Cohen. And what we saw in four days of meandering testimony and cross-examination towards the end of this trial, we saw them take a couple hits at Michael Cohen’s credibility. We now know, for example, that in addition to being a convicted felon and a liar, we know that Michael Cohen by his own admission is a thief. So I expect to see defense attorneys return to those schematics.”
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