A surprising aspect of Donald Trump’s criminal trial is Judge Juan Merchan’s no-nonsense approach and the degree to which he – and he alone – controls the proceedings.
Inside the court, it is the acting judge and not the former president who reigns. Merchan resumed the trial on Monday wishing Trump “good morning.” That was perhaps the only kindness uttered during hours of testimony by former Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney.
When the judge entered the courtroom, Trump stood alongside everyone else. When the judge sat down, Trump sat down. As jurors filed out during breaks, they noticeably avoided eye contact with the famous defendant, who remained silent as they passed by.
This is all normal protocol for a criminal trial. But when Trump is the defendant, protocol has been known to collapse.
In a libel trial in January, the judge in the case LewisKaplan, threatened to expel Trump from the courtroom after the former president made audible comments during the testimony of his accuser, E. Jean Carroll. The judge told Trump to “keep his voice down” at one point.
Merchan is keeping the theatrics to a minimum. He set the tone at the start of Monday’s proceedings by ruling that Trump violated his gag order for the tenth time, resulting in another $1,000 fine.
Fines aren’t a viable deterrent, Merchan warned, so he upped the ante. Further violations could land Trump in prison, the judge said.
“The last thing I want to do is put you in jail,” Merchan said. “You are the former president of the United States and possibly the next president as well.”
Trump sat and listened, saying nothing.
But when the trial ended, he adopted a more combative tone in the hallway.
“Frankly, our Constitution is much more important than prison,” Trump told reporters in the hallway.
There is no way of knowing whether Trump will strike again and risk losing his freedom. But at least inside the courtroom, Trump showed far more deference than defiance. For excerpts of testimony, he appeared to sit at the defense table with his eyes closed, impassive as McConney and a later witness from the Trump Organization meticulously explained the mechanics of Michael Cohen’s reimbursement for the $130,000 paid to porn actress Stormy Daniels.
George Grasso, a retired New York City judge and former city police officer, sat in the audience Monday to watch the trial unfold. He praised Merchan for combining patience and determination in his dealings with Trump.
“Any other defendant with these repeated violations would already be held in contempt,” Grasso said in an interview. “He [Trump] tries to say that he is being treated differently. He’s being treated differently: He has more leeway than the average defendant.”
“What the judge was clearly doing today was warning the defendant, while he will [jail Trump for more violations of the gag order], he doesn’t want to do that. ‘Here are the rules. Please comply!’”
Looking thinner than during his presidency, Trump left the room when court adjourned in the late afternoon. One of the prosecutors had just told Merchan that he expected the trial to last another two weeks.
Trump walked past lines of reporters, court security, sketch artists and even a few New Yorkers like Grasso, who had come to the courthouse with its faded wood paneling and exposed wires simply to see the historic spectacle.
He frowned as he looked at the press section, but remained silent.
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
