4 April 2023
NEW YORK (AP) — An extraordinary moment in U.S. history will unfold in a Manhattan courthouse on Tuesday: Former President Donald Trump, who faces multiple election-related investigations, will surrender and be arraigned on criminal charges stemming from 2016 hush money payments.
The booking and appearance before Judge Juan Merchan should be relatively brief — though hardly routine — as Trump is fingerprinted, learns the charges against him and pleads, as expected, not guilty. Merchan has ruled that TV cameras won’t be allowed in the courtroom.
Trump, who was impeached twice by the U.S. House but was never convicted in the U.S. Senate, will become the first former president to face criminal charges. The nation’s 45th commander-in-chief will be escorted from Trump Tower to the courthouse by the Secret Service and may have his mug shot taken.
Trump lawyer Joe Tacopina said Tuesday that the former president wouldn’t plead guilty to lesser charges, even if it might resolve the case. He said he didn’t believe the case would ever make it to a jury, but conceded, “Really, there’s a lot of mystery here because we’re doing something that’s never been done before.”
“He’ll be processed the way anyone else would be — to a degree,” Tacopina told ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
Here’s what to look for as a former United States president faces charges for the first time.
WHAT’S THE PLAN?
Trump flew into New York from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday and is expected to leave Trump Tower on Tuesday and make the nearly 4-mile (6-kilometer) drive to the Manhattan criminal courthouse, where he is scheduled to face a judge for his arraignment at 2:15 p.m. EDT.
WILL THERE BE A ‘PERP WALK’?
No. So-called perp walks happen when a criminal suspect is taken in handcuffs out of a police precinct and then driven to the courthouse. But Trump won’t be going to a police precinct. He’s arranged a surrender with the district attorney’s office and will head straight to the court, skipping a police station entirely. It’s very unlikely anyone will get a glimpse of him going into or out of court unless he wants to be seen. That’s because there are underground entrances, side doors and tunnels in and around the Manhattan courthouse.
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER HE SURRENDERS?
Trump will get booked. Here’s what that means: Before computers, information on every criminal suspect would be written down in a big book kept by court officials. Now, it’s all computerized, but the process is largely the same. Court officers will take down Trump’s full name, age, birthdate, height and weight. They’ll check to see if the former president has any outstanding warrants. They’ll take his fingerprints — but they won’t roll his fingertips in ink; these days that’s done by computer, too. Officers will roll each fingertip on a computerized system that records the prints. They may take his photo, known as a mug shot. In New York, this process usually takes about two hours but can be as long as four. But no one else is getting processed when Trump arrives, so it will go much faster. Then he goes before a judge.
WHAT HAPPENS IN THE HEARING?
An arraignment is a hearing in which the indictment will be formally unsealed and the charges will be read aloud, though Trump could request to waive the public reading. He will be asked how he pleads to the charges and is expected to answer “not guilty.” And Trump’s attorneys Joe Tacopina, Susan Necheles and Todd Blanche, will work with the judge and the district attorney’s office to set a date for the next time he’d be back in court. The judge has ruled that news photographers would be allowed to take photos of the former president at the start of his arraignment.
WILL HE BE ARRESTED?
Technically, yes. When he’s fingerprinted and processed, he’s considered under arrest and in custody. But it won’t look like what it does in the movies or on TV’s “Law & Order.” He won’t be handcuffed and he won’t sit in a jail cell, in part because parts of the courthouse will be cleared out for his arraignment — and because Trump is a former president with Secret Service protection. Not all defendants are handcuffed before they appear before a judge for an arraignment, though some are.
IF THERE IS A MUG SHOT, WILL IT BE MADE PUBLIC?
It depends. In New York City, mug shots aren’t generally made public. They are taken by the law enforcement agency that makes the arrest. There are situations where a judge could make the photo public in response to a public records fight. It could also get leaked, too.