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The first criminal trial of a former U.S. president has landed today听in the hands of 12 New Yorkers.听

The defense and prosecution laid out their closing arguments to the jury Tuesday in former President Donald Trump鈥檚 New York hush money case, which has gripped the media鈥檚 attention and kept the Republican presidential candidate in a courtroom for the past six听weeks. Both sides spent an unusually long time summing up their cases 鈥� just under three hours for the defense and more than five hours for the prosecution 鈥� causing the jury to stay late, long past the courthouse鈥檚 5 p.m. closing time.听

Tuesday鈥檚 marathon arguments underscored the complexity of the case as well as its historic nature 鈥� and stakes. Regardless of the outcome, the trial will forever be an asterisk on Mr. Trump鈥檚 presidency and could influence both the next election and American politics for years to come.听

鈥淭hey wanted to leave nothing left to chance,鈥� says Catherine Ross, a law professor at George Washington University and author of the book 鈥淎 Right To Lie? Presidents, Other Liars, and the First Amendment.鈥� 鈥淭hey know that whatever happens, what they did in this trial is going to be closely scrutinized by both sides.鈥澨�

At the same time, it鈥檚 unclear whether this or any of the cases against Mr. Trump would actually change the shape of the race. FiveThirtyEight鈥檚 general election polling average shows no real change since the New York case began a month ago. Other polls suggest that a majority of voters haven鈥檛 been paying attention. Although the case centers on Mr. Trump allegedly directing his former lawyer Michael Cohen to pay porn star Stormy Daniels $130,000 to keep her from publicizing a claimed sexual encounter, the actual charges are about drier matters of bookkeeping and election law, and the path to a felony conviction is far from straightforward.

On Wednesday morning,听Judge Juan Merchan听gave听the jurors instructions before they began deliberation, reminding听them that they were making 鈥渁 very important decision about another member of the community.鈥� Mr. Trump had no duty to testify, he said, and did not need to prove his innocence. It is the prosecution that must prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.

Mr. Trump, who is required to stay in the courthouse while the jury deliberates, seemed to be preparing for a possible conviction Wednesday. 鈥淢other Teresa could not beat these charges,鈥� he told reporters.

Hush money payments are not illegal. Instead, prosecutors charged Mr. Trump with 34 counts of felony falsification of business records, saying he orchestrated the payoff and deliberately mischaracterized Mr. Cohen鈥檚 repayments as 鈥渓egal expenses鈥� in order to prevent the situation from impacting his 2016 presidential campaign. Mr. Trump has denied the affair with Ms. Daniels as well as the prosecution鈥檚 other claims in this case and in the three other criminal cases pending against him.

Mr. Trump, who had professed himself eager to take the stand in his own defense, never did. Legal experts say the defense didn鈥檛 need to offer an alternative narrative; it simply needed to poke one or more holes in the prosecution鈥檚 case.听

鈥淚 think of this as a Jenga game,鈥� says Ms. Ross. 鈥淭he defense needed to destabilize at least one of the building blocks of the prosecution鈥檚 case. ... They don鈥檛 have the burden to tell a story; they just have to make the structure fall.鈥澨�

Much of the defense鈥檚 closing argument focused on one Jenga block in particular: Mr. Cohen, whom听attorney Todd Blanche referred to as 鈥渁n MVP of liars鈥� and the 鈥淕LOAT鈥� 鈥� greatest liar of all time. Mr. Cohen was the only witness able to establish that Mr. Trump knew of the hush money payments, but he听has also been sentenced for felonies and and has a history of perjury.听鈥淗e鈥檚 the human embodiment of reasonable doubt,鈥� said Mr. Blanche when capping off his list of 10 reasons the jury should not convict his client.听

Taking the podium after a lunch break Tuesday, the prosecution moved quickly to defend Mr. Cohen鈥檚 testimony. Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass conceded that Mr. Cohen, with his established history of theft and lying, isn鈥檛 necessarily whom they would have chosen at 鈥渢he witness store,鈥� but noted that he was chosen by Mr. Trump for jobs that 鈥渘o one else wanted.鈥�

鈥淭he prosecution often has to rely on witnesses with baggage because those are the ones with the inside scoop, those are the ones in the room where it happened,鈥� says Cheryl Bader, a criminal law professor at Fordham Law School and former assistant U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey. 鈥淭he prosecution has to show why, in this instance, Cohen is telling the truth. ... The alternative is that Cohen paid [Ms. Daniels] out of the goodness of his heart, and that鈥檚 not a plausible narrative.鈥�

The prosecution also reiterated in its closing arguments that it had provided evidence corroborating Mr. Cohen鈥檚 testimony. It showed the jury Sharpie-signed checks from Mr. Trump, invoices, call logs, and handwritten notes from Trump Organization officials about the payments to Mr Cohen.听

鈥淭he defense said, 鈥楾his is a paper case,鈥� as if that鈥檚 not a case,鈥� says Ms. Ross, with a laugh. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 normally have all these receipts.鈥�

Editor鈥檚 note: This story has been updated with the judge鈥檚 instructions to the jury, and a comment by the defendant.