Listen to this article(NewsNation) — Former President Donald Trump’s legal team will argue every possible legal procedure in order to delay the trial for his 34-felony indictment, says a legal expert.
“You can argue possibly for a change of venue. You can argue, remember there’s going to be a preliminary hearing where you put the state on its burden, can you really show enough evidence to go forward with a trial? They’re going to argue maybe for a switch of a judge,” said NewsNation legal contributor Jesse Weber. “They’re going to argue every single aspect they can, one, because they want to get the case dismissed. And number two, I imagine they want to delay this.”
After Trump’s historic arraignment, the court has set the following dates in the case of People of the State of New York v. Donald J. Trump, NewsNation confirmed.
Trump will be required to be physically present in New York during the hearings of this case.
Aug. 8 : Deadline for defense to file motions
Sept. 19: Prosecution’s response to the motions
Dec. 4: Court’s decision on motions
Jan. 2024: Trial start date proposed by District Attorney Alvin Bragg
The defense called the proposed start date “aggressive.”
“I don’t think we’re seeing a trial in January 2024,” Weber said. “I think it’s an optimistic goal for January 2024. But I also think that it’s a little too soon.”
“It doesn’t look like this is going to be resolved before Nov. 2024,” said Jim Schultz, former Trump White House attorney.
The timeline of this trial could also be complicated by other investigations into Trump. The former president could be facing multiple trials, including one from a Georgia probe about alleged interference in the 2020 presidential election.
“If he’s then brought up on other charges in another trial, and he’s found guilty in that separate case, he’s now a convicted felon. And that could be important in terms of sentencing,” Weber said. “I think the most immediate factor is scheduling. And it’s going to be a coordination between prosecutors about which case goes first.”
Though the possibility of multiple trials could impact the Manhattan probe, the cases won’t necessarily impact each other, Weber told “NewsNation.”
“If you’re talking about hush money payments here, it might not have a direct connection with the document investigation by Jack Smith or the Georgia election interference case. What it does do is create a headache for former president Donald Trump especially as he’s campaigning right now for a second term,” Weber explained.
