Former Florida state attorney Maria Schneider thought Trump jury would deliberate longer
MIAMI - Former Broward Assistant State Attorney Maria Schneider said she was surprised the jury in former President Donald Trump's "hush money" trial "made a decision as quickly as they did."
The jury deliberated for about 10 hours before reaching a verdict, finding Trump guilty on all 34 state felony counts in New York, making him the first former president to be convicted of a crime. He's scheduled to be sentenced in the case on July 11.
"This is an unprecedented case," Schneider told CBS News Miami. "I think a 10-hour deliberation was rather quick. So that was probably the most surprising part of this whole ordeal for me."
In brief remarks outside of the courtroom on Thursday, Trump told reporters that the verdict was a disgrace and that "this is long from over," indicating that he will likely file an appeal.
Schneider said she believes Trump's team will take "every possible avenue" to pursue an appeal.
"Every word that has been said in this trial is going to be scrutinized. Everything from pretrial rulings...from jury selection," suggested Schneider, adding that they'll likely look into the background of the 12 New York jurors to see if there's anything they didn't disclose.
"Whether there's actually any error - that remains to be seen," she added.
Schneider said Justice Juan Merchan, the judge overseeing the trial, kept a very tight rein on a courtroom that was difficult to control.
Each of Trump's 34 felony counts carries a sentence of up to four years in prison and a $5,000 fine. However, Schneider believes it's "very unlikely" that he'll face any prison time.
"A regular person would probably not receive an incarcerated sentence, so why would an ex-president or sitting president of the United States?" she said.
