‘You’re Killing Us’: MSNBC Hosts Groan When Lawyer Says How Long Trump Jury Could Take to Return a Verdict

A former prosecutor sent three MSNBC hosts into the depths of despair on Tuesday when he informed them that Donald Trump’s criminal trial could extend into next week.

The former president faces 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments to cover up extramarital affairs ahead of the 2016 election. He has pleaded not guilty and denies the affairs.

As the prosecution was in the middle of a lengthy closing argument in the courtroom, Katy Tur, Andrea Mitchell, and Chris Jansing speculated about when the trial will ultimately conclude. To this end, Tur asked former Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Daniel Horwitz, “How long will the jury have this case?”

“If get the case tomorrow – whether they finish tonight or finish tomorrow morning with the summation – they will get the case on Wednesday,” he replied. “I think this jury is gonna be extremely careful and deliberative. I could see it going until early next week.”

In response, Tur laughed and Jansing exclaimed, “What?!”

For good measure, Mitchell declared, “You’re killing us.”

“On the other hand, if they get this case tomorrow before the lunch break, I think that we will have a verdict before Friday,” Horwitz continued. “I think that they will want to be done with this case. They do not want to have it going into another week. They will want to be done by the weekend.”

Horwitz then discussed the “Friday effect,” whereby juries tend to deliberate more aggressively as the weekend approaches, lest its members have to come back to court on Monday.

“If they get the case when I think they’ll get it, which is before lunch tomorrow, I think you’ll have a verdict before Friday for that reason,” he added. “They will want to be done. It’s the Friday effect. ‘We’re done with this case. We don’t want to come next week. We’ve sat for a long time. It’s Friday. Let’s be done with it.'”