The accused conspirators were George Atzerodt, David Herold, Lewis Powell (Paine), Samuel Arnold, Michael O'Laughlen, Edman Spangler, Samuel Mudd, and Mary Surratt. The trial began on May 10, 1865. The three prosecutors spent nearly two months in court, awaiting the jury's verdict. Bingham and Holt attempted to obscure the fact that there were two plots. The first plot was to kidnap the president and hold him hostage in exchange for the Confederate prisoners held by the Union. The second was to assassinate the president, Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William H. Seward and thereby throw the government into electoral chaos. The prosecution did not reveal the existence of a diary taken from Booth's body, which made clear that the assassination plan dated from 14 April. The defense surprisingly did not call for Booth's diary to be produced in court.