For nearly four weeks, Donald Trump has sat quietly in a New York courtroom as state prosecutors presented the first-ever criminal case against a former US president.
Lawyers from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office have called a series of high-profile witnesses and introduced dozens of secretly recorded conversations and documents to support their case.
They allege that Mr. Trump orchestrated a hush-money payment to an adult-film star in 2016 to avoid a scandal that could have jeopardized his presidential campaign, and subsequently authorized an illegal reimbursement scheme to cover it up.
Mr. Trump denies 34 counts of falsifying business records.
The prosecution’s final witness, Michael Cohen, will undergo further cross-examination on Monday before Trump’s legal team presents his defense.
Legal experts acknowledge that while the prosecution has been thorough, securing a conviction in this complex felony case is not guaranteed.
“The pieces are all there. But is it there beyond a reasonable doubt?” said former Brooklyn prosecutor Julie Rendelman. “I don’t know.”
“It only takes one juror,” she added.
The case centers on a reimbursement Trump made to Cohen, his former fixer, for the $130,000 (£102,000) hush-money payment to adult-film star Stormy Daniels. Prosecutors began by detailing the events leading up to this payment.
David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer, testified about meetings at Trump Tower where he, Cohen, and Mr. Trump devised a plan to suppress negative stories about Trump, including alleged sexual encounters, during his presidential campaign.
Pecker’s testimony was particularly influential, according to former Manhattan prosecutor Lance Fletcher.
“He doesn’t have a reputation that’s been blown apart by this. And he came into it really seeming to be Trump’s friend,” Mr. Fletcher said. “So I think he comes off as almost an impartial witness.”
Subsequent witnesses included former Trump aide Hope Hicks and Daniels’ former attorney Keith Davidson, who helped corroborate the prosecution’s narrative.