Dont get ur hopes up for a conviction of Manafort.........

[Cryptoad]

Fact is there is no where in VA where u can pick 12 jurors that at least one juror will no vote to convict no matter what just bc they are a True Trumpeter! Kinda like trying a police person for killing a POC.

[leftieNanner]

1. Do these charges against Manafort

require a unanimous verdict? I thought that was just for capital crimes.

[brooklynite]

3. No - all criminal cases. Majority vote is usually for civil cases.

[leftieNanner]

4. Thanks

nt

[Jersey Devil]

6. Verdict must be unanimous in all criminal trials

A dissenting vote is the essence of "reasonable doubt".

[brooklynite]

2. And is your expert legal analysis based on some actual evidence?

The Court is in Alexandria (fun fact: my wife prosecuted cases there as a Special Asst US Attorney). And northern Virigina's electorate skews very Democratic.

[janterry]

5. I thought even Manafort is expecting to lose

n/t

[LanternWaste]

25. What leads you to allege a mere opinion on this is attempting "expert legal analysis"

Oh... wait, I get it. You're attempting to look clever again. My mistake, regardless of fun facts.

[brooklynite]

33. Not looking clever...criticizing unsupported fear-mongering

[JonLP24]

34. He's right about Northern VA's electorate

Manafort was trying to change the location to a more conservative district.

[OnDoutside]

7. Do you have links to back that up ? Can't the judge convict on 11-1, 10-2 ? In any case the amount

of documentary evidence against Manafort is substantial. They don't appear to be overly dependent on witness testimony.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

10. It has to be unanimous.

He might get one trumpanzee to try and hold out. The pressure will be immense.

Federal judges don’t play either. The judge will not let the jury off easy.

Iirc, the conviction rate is very high in federal criminal cases.

[OnDoutside]

15. Thanks

[Cryptoad]

13. My Cryptoadic Crystal Ball sees all,,,,,,,,

But Im keeping my little cryptoes crossed for a conviction!

[Hawaii Hiker]

8. Then there would be another trial of its 10-2, 11-1, etc

Besides both sides are allowed to eliminate potential jurors without question...If someone even hinted at being partisan, he/she would be excused...

[former9thward]

36. Each side is limited in their challenges.

And judges will not allow for cause challenges based on politics because there would never be a jury chosen. It is not automatic that there would be another trial. Trials take alot of witnesses and resources and often cases are never retried.

[onenote]

9. I never "get my hopes up" when a criminal trial is involved

The standard for finding guilty -- beyond a reasonable doubt -- is a high bar for prosecutors (and rightly so). Manafort's lawyers aren't amateurs. And the types of crimes that he is accused of committing are not always easy to prosecute. I'm sure Mueller's team was hoping for a deal and a guilty plea rather than a trial where the outcome, by definition, is uncertain.

[Trust Buster]

11. It's a slam dunk.

[Squinch]

38. I'm superstitious. You're scaring me.

[FreepFryer]

12. Whatever you say, Nostradamus. (n/t)

[manor321]

14. This post is crap

[Raine1967]

16. Are you aware this trial is happening in NoVa?

When you say 'no where in VA', I would have to disagree. Northern Virginia is a solid blue area.

It's a lot like NYS that way. I have hope that we will see justice, that there are 6 men and 6 women on the jury is a very good thing.

I disagree with the rest of your assessment on this commonwealth.

[FSogol]

21. Agreed. The op has no understanding of VA demographics. n/t

[Raine1967]

27. From the Vice Mayor of Alexandria:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">DC Area in a nutshell: "One of the first indications of the composition of the jury pool came as Ellis asked the assembled group if anyone knew anyone from the Justice Department or had business with the department. Nine hands shot up."</p>— Justin Wilson (@justindotnet) <a href="

Link to tweet

?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 31, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Justin Wilson on twitter:
DC Area in a nutshell: "One of the first indications of the composition of the jury pool came as Ellis asked the assembled group if anyone knew anyone from the Justice Department or had business with the department. Nine hands shot up."

[FSogol]

31. +1, exactly. N/T

[hlthe2b]

17. That would only end up in a mistrial/retrial. Even Trumpsters could likely see the futility...

besides the fact if it was one hold out that had shown inappropriate and overt partisan bias leading to misbehavior during the trial or deliberations, they might just give the judge grounds to remove them.

[Raine1967]

18. As an aside, I hope Manafort is convicted for his own safety.

If he walks a free man, Russia will be watching him for the rest of his life. It's an opinion of mine that his being in jail has been good for his life expectancy.

[Cryptoad]

35. Or God Forbid,,,,,,,

Russia needs to test a new nerve agent on a live human,,,,,, !

[bpj62]

19. Jury Pool

The jury pool for this case is very large. My friend was in the pool and was excused because he is a school teacher and will start classes the last week of August. This isnt the OJ trial. As for Trump holdouts it is highly unlikely that will be an issue because this trial is about money laundering and tax evasion. The DC trial will deal with matters that involve Trump.

[maxrandb]

20. Yes, why bother trying to hold these pricks accountable

because some wingnut from Dumbfuckistan, "Merika" would let Donnie Short Fingers shoot a person on 5TH Ave and not convict.



I understand your cynicism...really I do, but I have faith in our justice system...and I have faith that 10-11 "peers" can exert sufficient influence over 1 or 2 nutbags, especially if there is overwhelming evidence.

[beachbum bob]

22. federal court is a different animal

[AlexSFCA]

23. I don't expect anything anymore and take nothinf for granted

I’m not even gonna waste time following the trial, just wait until the verdict is announced.

[lame54]

24. He'll fold before the verdict...

Juries are unpredictable and there is soooooo much evidence against him that he won't bank on Trump loyalty saving him

[empedocles]

26. For better or worse

Courts have ruled that prospective jurors social media information can be legally investigated. There are juror consultants and investigators who specialize in this kind of research.

In this Manafort case, both sides have very likely done this kind of research, which would seemingly root out most biased political activists. Still the Gotti bribed type jurors, and the closet '5th Avenue voters' can conceivably get through. [Although a judge can remove a clearly biased deliberating juror - that is rare].

[elleng]

28. Tax evasion and Bank fraud.

[brush]

29. Wrong. It's a "paper" case. The evidence consists of documents...

which are hard to dispute.

It's a slam dunk.

[elleng]

30. 'In opening statements Tuesday, prosecutors painted former Trump campaign chairman

Paul Manafort as a "shrewd" liar who orchestrated a global scheme avoid paying taxes on millions of dollars.'

Link to tweet

[honest.abe]

32. This is Alexandria VA.

Nothing like the Virginia you may be familiar with.

[HipChick]

37. Northern VA is nothing like

the rest of VA..