I would rather hear “your client will respect this courtroom or he will be fined for contempt” in order to immediately establish the initial ineffective financial penalties and thereby paving the path toward incarceration.
I predict that, with an awesome exertion of willpower (the exertion undoubtedly eliciting quite a few more farts) he’ll be relatively well behaved for at least the first few days. Because as has sometimes been said, there’s nothing like the defendant seeing jury selection to bring home the fact that this shit is real. Whether he’ll be able to control himself for more than a few days is another question.
No matter what happens, I don’t think that incarceration for Mr. Trump is on the table. Oh, maybe a three-hour stay in the courthouse lockup some afternoon, but not at Riker’s for the next three days. This judge is being very careful and very thorough, and seems to me to be making every move the court makes in this matter as appellate-proof as possible. That means giving Mr. Trump a lot of latitude, but that also means that the court is just giving him more rope with which to eventually hang himself, really. Captain Queeg? Colonel Jessup? Donald Trump? You guys are three of a kind.
Yeah, and I’ve seen this before in courtrooms. “Shit’s becoming real. Fuck me, I never thought it would go this far …” Well, it did, because you overrode your lawyer’s recommendations to plead out in the face of overwhelming evidence.
I agree that it’s unlikely. The only way it happens is if the court begins by imposing penalties that do not involve detention, and despite continued escalation finds this to be ineffective in compelling Trump to moderate his behavior, thereby leading inexorably to incarceration as the final unfortunate* remedy.
So, let’s get started with that.
*Not really.
I wonder if the defense has considered painting eyes on his eyelids. This works in a limited number of circumstances, if you can believe Archie comics.
That’s what I always thought, that after Trump blew through all the other sanctions he’d spend an afternoon in some lock-up, staring at the walls and alone. I don’t believe he will ever end up in Riker’s or “Oz” or whatever.
Here’s an “I watch too much legal drama on TV” question: if it comes to that, could the court require (or at least expect) an apology if he’d like to see the light of day?
The first time I got called for (reserve) jury duty, the person that explained the process to us said that it’s not uncommon to get called for a case and then dismissed before you even make it to the courtroom. Apparently sometimes just knowing that a jury is on their way up is enough to get them to settle.
Also, regarding him falling asleep. I won’t say that I can’t blame him, but with all the stress in his life and, if I had to guess, not sleeping much, I can see why he’s dozing off in situations where he’s being forced to just observe but keep his mouth shut. Plus, if everything about him taking adderall are true, it makes sense. All riled up at one point and then falling asleep after if wears off.
Whenever I hear about him falling asleep, I could picture my dad doing the same thing. Hopefully not in the middle of a trial, but he’s one of those dads that can walk into a room, turn on the TV and fall asleep. I work with him and as soon as there’s nothing engaging going on, he’s drifting off, sometimes still scrolling through facebook. I once kicked the back of his chair because he started snoring during a rather boring meeting we were in. He could fall asleep during The Guns of Navarone.
Since this case isn’t about something that could even be considered to be accidental (or at least at this point we’re waaay past the window for them being able to call it an accounting error), my WAG is that the only way an apology would make a difference is if it was an apology for his behavior followed by him actually behaving.
Right now, CNN’s reporting backs you. Well played, Sir. Well played.
That makes sense. Open the case with someone who doesn’t have a criminal conviction, and can establish that this was a general business practice for Trump.
My Wife and I drove 1300 miles to see family for Thanksgiving. A very hectic time that keeps you going though, because of constant movement, conversation, cooking and whatnot.
The next day, we just needed out for a bit of time by ourselves. We went to the movies. The first Matthew Broderick Godzilla movie. Filmed pretty dark but lot’s of action. We fell asleep. We where wrung out.
9am is very early for trump, reporting is he would not leave the residence of the white house until 11ish am.
once again the usual meandering remarks before going into the courtroom. looks like a black suit today. perhaps they could give him one of those fidget thingys to help him stay awake.
while trump is in this courtroom, in another his “bond” is being discussed.
get your favourite snack and using benedict cumberbatch’s voice: “shall we begin”.
merchan has said: “good morning, mr trump”
the prosecution will use 40ish minutes for opening, the defence will use 25ish for opening.
court will end at 12:30pm due to a juror appt. one juror has concerns about the media attention and will speak with the judge. the judge and lawyers are going to a side room to speak with the juror.
the alternate juror has decided to remain. onward.
Why do I get the feeling six alternates isn’t going to be enough for this trial? 
Seems like there’s a fair chance of that being a problem with this trial. I’m surprised they didn’t double the number of alternates. Can one of our resident legal experts speak to what would happen if they “ran out” of jurors? Presumably, it would result in a mistrial. Which would be awesome news for the defense.
Don’t we get the Sandoval ruling first?
I’ll answer my own question. If Trump testifies they can ask about the Carroll verdicts but not about the Trump. org tax fraud conviction. They can ask about the NY fraud case.
Falling asleep? Were I in as much trouble as he’s in, I’d be shittin’ my pants!
Why can’t it be both?
Trump is being charged for the crime that Trump’s appointees charged against Michael Cohen, and that he served time for.
The elements of the crime are also fairly well known and undisputed.
The laws that he’s charged with breaking have all been in place since before he ran for office in 2016.
He’s betting judged by a pool of ordinary people that were half culled down by his own chosen defenders.
What? You mean I can’t trust Russian State TV? < shocked face >