Jonah E. Bromwich

NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump’s Manhattan criminal trial will enter its final stage Tuesday as defense lawyers and prosecutors deliver their closing arguments in a last attempt to sway the 12 New Yorkers who will decide his fate. First the defense and then the prosecution will spend hours weaving disparate strands of evidence into a cohesive story that they hope will resonate with the jurors. To mold their dueling accounts, each side can draw from a deep well of evidence: testimony fr

After the judge instructs them on the law, 12 New Yorkers will retreat behind closed doors to decide Donald J. Trump’s fate.

Justice Juan M. Merchan is expected to explain the 34 charges of falsifying business records that Donald J. Trump faces. It is no simple task.

A Manhattan jury found that he had falsified business records to conceal a sex scandal that could have hindered his 2016 campaign for the White House.

NEW YORK — Donald Trump was convicted on Thursday of falsifying records to cover up a sex scandal that threatened to derail his 2016 presidential campaign, capping an extraordinary trial that tested the resilience of the U.S. justice system and transformed the former commander-in-chief into a felon.

The district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, became the first prosecutor to bring a criminal case against a United States president. On Thursday, he won.

Lawyers for Donald J. Trump had asked to move the sentencing in his Manhattan criminal case to after the election. In a letter, prosecutors disputed many of their arguments.

Matthew Bianchi said he was transferred after he angered a high-ranking official of the New York Police Department by ticketing a friend.

The proceedings are set to begin at 9:30 a.m. Though the president-elect is expected to avoid jail time, his sentencing on 34 counts will formalize his status as a felon and make him the first to carry that distinction into the White House.

Justice Juan Merchan gave Donald Trump a symbolic punishment. The judge said that leniency was due the office of the president, not the man who will soon hold the title.