Trump trial: Why can’t Americans see or hear what is going on inside the courtroom?

NEW YORK — It is a moment in history: the first American president to face criminal charges in an American courtroom. Yet only a handful of observers can see or even hear what is going on.

Instead, most of the country is getting news of former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial secondhand. Starting with preliminary motions and jury selection Monday, reporters in a Manhattan courtroom must convey to the outside world afterward what is said.

That’s all because New York state law regarding media coverage of legal proceedings is one of the most restrictive in the country. Last week’s death of OJ Simpson, whose murder trial broadcast live from a California courtroom captivated a nation 30 years ago, was a poignant reminder of how far behind the times New York is — or at least a delay.

Regulations limiting media attention in courtrooms date back nearly a century, when the spectacle of bright flashbulbs and camera operators standing on witness tables during the 1935 trial of the man accused of kidnapping and murdering the infant son by Charles Lindbergh horrified the legal community, according to a 2022 report from the New York-based Fund for Modern Courts.

Rules to enforce decorum spread nationwide, changed to take into account the invention of television, as defense lawyers worried that video reporting would hurt their case, the report said.

But interest in open government destroyed these laws and – slowly and carefully – video cameras were allowed in courts across the country, often at the discretion of judges presiding over individual cases.

New York also allowed them on an experimental basis between 1987 and 1997, but they were closed. Lobbyists for defense attorneys remain strong in New York and are especially influential among attorneys in the state Assembly, said Victor Kovner, a former corporate attorney from New York City who advocates for open courtrooms.

New York and Louisiana are the only remaining states to completely restrict video coverage, according to the Fund for Modern Courts.

For Kovner and others, that is scandalous.

“We are the media capital of the world, we like to think, and the fact that cameras are not allowed in any of our three branches of government is unacceptable,” said New York State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal. has sponsored a bill to try to change that.

“It is one of the most consequential processes of our modern time,” the senator said. “I think the public has a right to see exactly what happens in that courtroom.”

That’s because the chairman, Juan M. Merchan, allowed a handful of photographers to take pictures of Trump before the day’s proceedings began. Once the court was convened, courtroom sketch artists – a dying form of communication – held sway.

There is even some video coverage of the trial available on monitors in an overflow room next to the main courtroom. The room was packed Monday with reporters, court officials and a few members of the public, including Ron Sinibaldi, a former accountant from Long Island, who lined up outside the courthouse for a seat before midnight.

“I read presidential biographies,” Sinibaldi said. “I go to presidential libraries. I’m here for the history.”

In a hallway outside the courtroom, a limited number of cameras and a small group of reporters are set up to capture comments from anyone involved in the trial who wants to address the outside world. That also applied to Trump, even before the proceedings began.

Without live coverage of the trial, how often the former president chooses to take advantage of those cameras and whether news organizations report his comments live, recorded or not at all will play a major role in how the case goes public perceived.

MSNBC released his comments live Monday morning. “They’re trying to get the story regardless of the outcome,” CNN reporter Phil Mattingly said of Trump’s defense team.

With some effort. CNN stationed a crew on the streets of Manhattan outside the courtroom, where a truck decorated with pro-Trump flags would regularly drive by, honking its horn and blasting music from its speakers. Journalists sometimes struggled to be heard. “It’s like a circus here,” said CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.

Commentators and experts, many of whom had experience in jury selection, offered their opinions from outside the courtroom or from studios. Fox News analyst Jonathan Turley said “most cities, at least those outside New York,” will see the case as a weaponization of criminal justice.

Since it is estimated that jury selection could take up to two weeks, and there is no way to prove this, journalists will have a lot of time to fill unless they turn their attention elsewhere.

Georgia, where Trump is accused of election interference, gives judges the discretion to allow television cameras. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee has said he will make all hearings and trials in that case available for broadcast. That already included hearings on whether Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis would be allowed to argue the case.

Federal courts do not allow cameras in criminal cases. Trump faces separate federal cases for election interference and mishandling of classified documents, although it is not clear when or if trials will take place.

The FBI offers one glimmer of hope: The U.S. Supreme Court will allow audio of oral arguments to be broadcast outside the courtroom. But there is no indication that this would apply to Trump’s case. New York law does not allow audio coverage of his hush money trial.

Supporters of legislation to open New York courts to electronic media reporting hope the attention paid to the Trump case will boost their proposals. The idea is being considered as part of the current New York state budget negotiations, so theoretically a new law could even impact the Trump trial if it passes and goes into effect immediately.

Given the history of New York State, it’s best not to count on it.

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Associated Press correspondent Jennifer Peltz and Jake Offenhartz in New York, and Anthony Izaguirre and Maysoon Khan in Albany, NY, contributed to this report. David Bauder writes about media for The Associated Press. Follow him at http://twitter.com/dbauder.