Donald Trump will appear in a New York court on Tuesday, April 4, for an arraignment related to paying hush money to a porn star ahead of the 2016 election.
Trump, the first former president to face criminal charges, is due to be arraigned, fingerprinted and photographed at the midtown Manhattan courthouse by 2:15 p.m. ET Tuesday.
His lawyers have said he will plead not guilty, and Trump himself has stated that he will return directly to his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida after arraignment.
The specific charges included in the grand jury’s indictment have not been released, but it has heard evidence about a $130,000 payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in the final days of the 2016 presidential campaign.
Here, DailyMail.com answers a few questions about Trump’s arraignment, the district attorney in charge of prosecuting his case, and the former president’s likelihood of going to jail.
Former US President Donald Trump will appear in a New York court on Tuesday, April 4 for an arraignment related to paying hush money to a porn star ahead of the 2016 election.
Why is Donald Trump being prosecuted?
Donald Trump was indicted on March 30, 2023 for paying hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels following her alleged affair.
Trump’s arraignment, the first time the former president has appeared in court in connection with the case, will take place tomorrow in New York at 2:15 p.m. ET.
You will be ‘reserved’, which means you will have your picture taken at the Manhattan District Attorney’s office and you will have to provide your fingerprints.
Trump’s indictment has yet to be unsealed, so it’s not entirely clear what he’s accused of.
Daniels has said he was paid to keep quiet about a sexual encounter he had with Trump at a Lake Tahoe hotel in 2006. Trump denies the affair.
While it is not illegal to pay hush money, prosecutors say that when Trump reimbursed his former lawyer Michael Cohen, who made the hush money payment, he recorded it as legal fees.
This, they argue, amounts to falsifying business records, which is illegal and can be a misdemeanor or felony under New York law.
Trump’s arraignment will be presided over by Manhattan Performance Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan.
Acting Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan has been described as a “sensible judge”
Who is Alvin Bragg?
Alvin Bragg is Manhattan’s first black district attorney, and he could also become the first prosecutor anywhere to bring a criminal case against a former president of the United States.
The Democrat inherited an investigation into Trump when he took office in January 2022.
Bragg grew up in Harlem during the crack epidemic of the 1980s, where he says police held him at gunpoint six times, three times.
A graduate of Harvard Law School, he previously worked as a federal prosecutor, assistant state attorney general, civil rights attorney, and law school professor.
Bragg campaigned for office as a progressive reformer. He was elected with 83 percent of the vote in deep blue Manhattan.
After taking office, Bragg halted an investigation into Trump’s business dealings that was seen as building momentum toward possible impeachment.
But after his prosecutors won a trial last year in which Trump’s company, the Trump Organization, was convicted of tax fraud, Bragg convened a new grand jury to examine the hush money payments.
Alvin Bragg is Manhattan’s first black district attorney, and could also become the first prosecutor anywhere to bring a criminal case against a former US president.
What do legal experts say about Trump going to jail?
If convicted of felonies, Trump could face a maximum sentence of four years in prison.
However, legal experts have said a fine is the most likely outcome and jail time highly unlikely.
To secure a conviction on the felony charge, prosecutors would have to prove that the records were falsified with the intent to commit or conceal a second crime.
It is unclear what prosecutors are alleging as a second offense.
Trump’s lawyer, Joe Tacopina, has said that Trump’s lawyers will “dissect” his accusation once it becomes public and look at “all the potential issues” to challenge, adding that he anticipates at some point filing a motion to dismiss the charges. charges.
‘The team will look at all, all the potential problems that we can challenge, and we will.
“And of course I very much anticipate a motion to dismiss because there is no law to accommodate this,” he said in a statement.
The 45th president’s legal troubles have been raging for several years, with another legal investigation still underway in Georgia, as well as a possible federal investigation.
If convicted and sentenced to jail time, the former president could find himself in a single occupancy cell in Rikers, Queens.
If Trump receives a jail term, where will he go and for how long?
If Trump is jailed for claims that he paid secret money to porn star Stormy Daniels, he will most likely end up in Rikers Island jail, which houses some of the city’s most notorious criminals.
Mike Lawlor, an associate professor of criminal justice at the University of New Haven, told DailyMail.com that Trump would be given simple treatment, similar to that of disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, and would be required to wear a suit. secondhand. orange jumpsuit.
As a former president who recently announced his 2024 campaign, Trump is entitled to lifetime protection from the Secret Service and would have two members of the agency sitting outside his cell.
Lawlor, who chaired the House Judiciary Committee from 1995 to 2011, told DailyMail.com: “Depending on the length of the sentence, if it’s relatively short, less than a few years, you’ll serve it on Rikers Island in NY”. If it’s a longer sentence, it would be in one of the upstate correctional facilities.
‘Trump would have to be in protective custody, isolated. They have facilities for that at Rikers, it’s half empty so no shortage of space.
“Because of his age, he could also end up in nursing because he could have a variety of health problems and we’re sure he has some.”