Texarkana Gazette

Manafort jury ends first day of deliberati­ons

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ALEXANDRIA, Va.—The jury in the fraud trial of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort ended its first day of deliberati­ons with a series of questions to the judge, including a request to "redefine" reasonable doubt.

The questions came after roughly seven hours of deliberati­on, delivered in a handwritte­n note to U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III. Ellis read the questions aloud to lawyers for both sides as well as Manafort before he called the jury in to give his answers.

Along with the question on reasonable doubt, the jury asked about the list of exhibits, rules for reporting foreign bank accounts and the definition of "shelf companies," a term used during the trial to describe some of the foreign companies used by Manafort.

Ellis told the jurors they need to rely on their collective memory of the evidence to answer most questions. As for reasonable doubt, he described it as "a doubt based on reason" and told jurors it does not require proof "beyond all doubt."

The jury concluded deliberati­ons around 5:30 p.m. after receiving Ellis' answers. Deliberati­ons will resume Friday at 9:30 a.m.

Jurors began their deliberati­ons Thursday morning in the case against Manafort, who prosecutor­s say earned $60 million advising Russia-backed politician­s in Ukraine, hid much of it from the IRS and then lied to banks to get loans when the money dried up.

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