Trial expert predicts Trump jurors will be 'stunned' by lack of 'credibility' of key evidence
Jason Cohen
Daily Caller News Foundation
Jury consultant Carolyn Koch on Friday asserted that the jurors in former President Donald Trump’s trial will likely be shocked by the lack of “credibility” of his former attorney Michael Cohen and his alleged evidence against his former boss.
Michael Cohen made a recording of a conversation with Trump regarding the potential purchase of story concerning Playboy model Karen McDougal, who alleges she had an affair with the former president. Koch said a jury is unlikely to be persuaded that the tape is evidence of a crime in part due to Cohen’s credibility issues, as well as the incompleteness of the tape.
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“Well, audio is good,” Koch said. “And audio is like a document. But jurors are going to respond to the case like a mosaic. So there’s pieces of the puzzle and I use the analogy like a Jenga, a Jenga tower; the audio is an unfinished conversation and there is a big difference between contemplation and consummation. And so, like, I always think about … you learn it in law school, it’s the unjust enrichment.”
“You talk about, hey, ‘would you paint my house? I‘m thinking about paying my house,'” Koch continued. “And the guy paints your house, but ‘I didn’t give you the green light yet.’ So if there’s missing information on Cohen’s cell phone and he’s not the most credible person, well he’s not credible. He has credibility problems. That’s a problem. What’s missing?”
Cohen is a key witness against Trump and has come under fire for his dishonesty, including pleading guilty in August 2018 to five counts of willful tax evasion; one count of making false statements to a bank; one count of causing an unlawful campaign contribution; and one count of making an excessive campaign contribution.
“Most jurors will hold the government to its burden to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt,” Koch added. “And witnesses have to have some quality and some credibility. I think they’re going to be a little stunned that that‘s a little bit lacking here … I have seen jurors connect the dots, but they’re in cases where it’s like a serial killer and he‘s abducting girl scouts and they know he did it and they’re willing to lighten up that burden of proof because they can’t sleep at night.”
The prosecution is using the recording as evidence against Trump, despite the trial being about the alleged falsification of business records pertaining to reimbursing Cohen for $130,000 paid to porn star Stormy Daniels rather than McDougal.
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