Trump’s New York hush-money trial: 12 legal terms explained

Al Jazeera looks at the range of legal language used to describe aspects of the former US president’s hush-money trial.

The trial of former President Donald Trump in New York, which has dominated headlines in the United States and across the world, is entering its final stage after more than six weeks of proceedings.

On Wednesday, jurors began the process of making a decision about whether to find Trump guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. The outcome of the trial could have major implications for the US presidential election in November and affect the future of the country for years to come.

Never before has a US president, past or present, faced criminal charges. Prosecutors have argued that Trump fudged the business records to conceal a hush-money payment that could have hurt his chances in the 2016 elections.

But Trump and his defence team have denied any wrongdoing, instead framing the charges as politically motivated.

Media coverage of the hush-money case has described the process largely by using legal terms. But it is not always easy to understand judicial jargon like “indictment” and “arraignment”.