GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — For Tonya Krause-Phelan, a former defense attorney and current professor at Cooley Law School in Lansing, there were early signs when the jury walked back in to the courtroom to read what would be 34 guilty verdicts for former president Donald Trump.
"In all the years that I tried criminal cases, whenever the jury returned of a guilty verdict against my client, when they walked into that courtroom, they did not make eye contact with me or my client, sort of a telltale sign that seems to be universal. Most criminal defense attorneys will tell you that," said Krause-Phelan.
The twelve jurors on the trial were told that they couldn't solely rely on the testimony of Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen because of his consideration as an accomplice. That's something Krause-Phelan said was actually a benefit for the defense team.
"The jury was told, you can't rely just on him, there has to be something else that corroborates what he said for you to convict," said Krause-Phelan. "So when you put it in that perspective, it's favorable to the defense."
Guilty on all 34 charges accusing the former president of falsifying business records to cover up an alleged hush money payment to Stormy Daniels, Krause-Phelan believes this was a fair trial.
"If the appellate court determines that there was some mistake made, they will correct it, and then tie then then time will tell and that part of the story will be written at that time," said Krause-Phelan. "But that's what I would say to people is have faith in the system, he was treated the same way you or your loved ones would be treated at a trial."
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