The defense has rested. The prosecution has rested. And jury deliberations will now begin Wednesday morning in New York prosecutors’ case against Donald Trump, the first criminal trial involving a former president.

“You, the jury, have the ability to hold the defendant accountable,” prosecutor Joshua Steinglass told the panel at the end of his marathon 4½-hour closing argument that stretched into Tuesday evening.

The deliberations will start after state Judge Juan Merchan finishes delivering his instructions to the 12-person jury on the laws it will need to consider as it decides the historic case. His instruction is expected to take about an hour. 

The jury could render a verdict as soon as Wednesday afternoon, though it could take days and even stretch into next week.

Americans across the country are awaiting the verdict with baited breath, but the public has virtually zero visibility into the jury’s deliberations, which happen behind closed doors.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office has charged Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records relating to a hush money payment his attorney Michael Cohen made to adult film star Stormy Daniels in the closing days of the 2016 election. Prosecutors allege Trump reimbursed Cohen through a series of payments that were falsely listed as legal expenditures.

The DA’s office was able to elevate the charge, typically a misdemeanor, to a felony by alleging the records were falsified with the intent to conceal another crime. Steinglass suggested Trump was trying to cover up a number of crimes, including violations of state and federal election laws.

Trump attorney Todd Blanche told the jury: “President Trump is innocent. He did not commit any crimes, and the district attorney has not met their burden of proof. Period.” 

He argued that the records weren’t falsified because Trump wasn’t reimbursing Cohen for the Daniels payment; instead, he was paying for general legal services because Cohen was Trump’s personal lawyer at the time.

Steinglass called that account jaw-dropping, noting that Trump had previously publicly acknowledged having reimbursed Cohen.

Cohen was prosecutors’ key witness, and Blanche told jurors he couldn’t be trusted because of his history of lying. “He’s literally like the MVP of liars,” Blanche said.

Steinglass acknowledged that Cohen had a history of lying but said he’d often done so to protect Trump. That Trump’s attorneys were trying to use those lies to undermine his credibility “is what some people might call chutzpah,” Steinglass said.

The trial began with jury selection on April 15. Trump, who said before the proceedings began that he’d “absolutely” testify, never took the stand in his own defense.

If he’s convicted, Trump faces up to four years in prison.