Opening statements are the most important part of a trial – as lawyers in Trump’s hush money case know well

Former U.S. President Donald Trump enters Manhattan Criminal Court on April 22, 2024. Victor J. Blue – 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. Such was the case in the hush money trial involving former President Donald Trump and alleged payments to porn star Stormy Daniels when lawyers for both sides presented 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. During his opening argument, prosecutor Matthew Colangelo told the jury that Trump was part of a conspiracy to conceal negative information about him in order to help get him elected. “Then he covered up that conspiracy by lying in his New York business records, over and over and over again,” Colangelo said. For Trump’s defense, lawyer Todd Blanche was direct. “President Trump did not...