The legal battle between The People of New York and Donald Trump is only just beginning, and the process that will unfold in the coming months could take a considerable amount of time. Here is what you can expect to happen next.
The Defense Receives Discovery When a defendant is not in custody, the prosecution must hand over all the evidence gathered during the investigation, including the minutes from the grand jury process, witness testimony, law enforcement notes, and any exhibits presented to the grand jury. In this case, where there is reportedly a vast amount of material, prosecutors stated in court on Tuesday that they would be able to provide the majority of evidence to the defense within 65 days.
Motions Will Be Filed Trump’s defense team has already announced that it plans to file motions in court to have the case dismissed before it reaches a jury. The defense team usually has 45 days to file motions after the arraignment, but the judge may grant them more time. Trump has even suggested that he may file a motion to transfer the case out of Manhattan. Such motions are rarely granted, and the defense team would need to convince the judge that Trump could not receive a fair trial in the city because of pretrial publicity.
However, given the amount of national media attention that the case has already generated, persuading the judge to move it elsewhere will be challenging. As Robert Gottlieb, a former assistant district attorney in Manhattan who is now in private practice, has noted, “New York jurors consider themselves smarter than everyone else, and they will analyze this case to death – red or blue.”
In conclusion, the legal battle between The People of New York and Donald Trump is just getting started, and it could take months, if not longer, to reach a resolution. As the case progresses, the defense team will likely file motions to dismiss the charges and may even attempt to have the case moved to a different venue. However, given the high level of media attention and the city’s reputation for intelligent jurors, these efforts may prove challenging.