Expect lawyers to set the tone in Trump’s hush money trial with dramatic, possibly explosive, opening arguments

Former U.S. President Donald Trump appears in Manhattan Criminal Court on April 19, 2024. Sarah Yenesel – Pool/Getty Images by Ronald S. Sullivan Jr., Harvard University Though Hollywood movies about courtroom dramas often glamorize the closing arguments given by lawyers, in reality the opening statement is likely the most important single event of a trial. Lawyers in the hush money case involving former President Donald Trump and alleged payments to porn star Stormy Daniels will present their opening statements on April 22, 2024, in New York. In this case, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged the former president with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records as part of an effort to influence voters’ knowledge about him before the 2016 presidential election. Trump entered a plea of not guilty. Academic psychologists tell us that between 65% and 75% of jurors make up their minds about a case after the opening statement. What’s even more incredible is that 85% of those jurors maintain the position they formed after the opening statement once all evidence is received and the trial is closed. More often than not, it is too late by closing arguments to win over the jury. This phenomenon comes as...