By Mary Angela Bock
When former President Donald Trump soon returns to court in New York City, there are likely to be few visual surprises. Trump’s hush-money trial before New York Judge Juan Merchan is scheduled to start with jury selection on April 15, 2024.
Monday’s scene will likely echo the one from 2023, when Trump walked past cameras into a courthouse in order to appear for his arrest on 34 felony charges for allegedly committing business fraud and paying porn star Stormy Daniels money to remain quiet about her claims of their sexual encounter. As historic as the moment was, the visuals were rather bland.
Still photos from inside the courtroom will capture the scene silently, so even if the former president speaks out of turn, as he occasionally does in court, outside viewers will not hear the audio. New York courts allow cameras into criminal proceedings, but journalists must get permission to be there, and judges will impose different rules on a case-by-case basis.
Dozens of news photographers will be posted inside and outside the courthouse, working within strict guidelines about where they can stand and when. Yet the courtroom scene is not likely to be the sort of media free-for-all shown in movies and TV shows. Judges and news organizations may work for weeks or months to ensure that court operations run smoothly during spectacular cases.
I have studied the way visual journalists cover criminal justice for 20 years. All this preplanning tends to yield pretty matter-of-fact imagery, but three things will be worth looking for in the visual coverage of Trump’s appearance: surprises, body language and symbolic juxtapositions.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
The unexpected
Surprises will be hard to come by. True, the former president likes to play to the cameras when he can, but he faces legal challenges on multiple fronts, and so far, he has been compelled to maintain a civil demeanor when being photographed in court.
Even in the most camera-friendly jurisdictions, such as New York and Florida, photojournalists are subject to strict rules about placement and procedure. My research for my 2021 book, “Seeing Justice,” found that media and the court system often work together to balance the public’s interest in a case with a need to maintain order.
In fact, arrangements for major cases can mimic the plans for major league sporting events. During the 2013 George Zimmerman trial for the murder of Black teenager Trayvon Martin in central Florida, for example, court representatives met with local TV engineers to determine where news vans could park. Cameras were set up inside the courtroom, and an overflow room was arranged so the journalists who didn’t have access to the courtroom could still watch the proceedings.
Body language
During Trump’s upcoming trial, viewers will be watching for cues from his body language, particularly his facial expressions. Often visual coverage for a criminal court case lets the audience know what the accused looks like, but most viewers are well-acquainted with the former president’s appearance. Instead, people will be watching for clues about his mood.
Will the former president look angry, as he has during previous court appearances? Will he look solemn? Nervous?
Visual coverage can often expose so much more than words about a person’s mood. Human beings instinctively read faces as part of social interaction. Infants track faces before other visual information.
Some experts estimate that a majority of the information people take in from a conversation can be nonverbal, though exactly how much they rely on this kind of information is subject to debate. What is clearly established in the research is that, whether in-person or through media, we are drawn to faces. We notice them, read them and respond emotionally to them. Mirror neurons, a type of brain cell, are activated when we read the faces of others, prompting our own emotions to flicker in reaction to others’ apparent feelings..
Coverage from Trump’s appearance before Merchan on April 4, 2023, for instance, included observations about his body language, how he walked into the building, how he quietly interacted with his lawyers, and so on. He waited to be among supporters in Florida that day before more forcefully expressing his anger and frustration.
Fulton County Sheriff’s Office via Getty Images
Visual irony
Finally, those of us who are deeply interested in visual communication will be watching for symbolic juxtapositions. A still photo from the pool camera in April 2023, for example, included a bulletin board in the background in which a small American flag had been inserted.
Who put it there, and why? This tiny American flag, displayed next to what looks like a photocopied map of the state of New York and other nondescript notices, added a touch of the mundane to the historic moment.
The courtroom where Trump sat was just one of many of its kind across the country. The plain bulletin board with its little flag robbed the scene of grandiosity normally associated with the presidency.
The photojournalists stationed in and outside of the courthouse will be very busy and likely tense as they prepare to capture photos and video of the former president. But this chaotic scene will be largely hidden from the audience.
Photojournalists will likely work from cordoned-off pens in the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse, and if their scrums are anything like the others I’ve studied over time, they’ll gather very early, stake claim to key spots and spend far more time waiting than recording video.
Visual journalists from competing organizations will greet one another as professionals do at a convention, with handshakes and catch-up conversations. After all, many of these photojournalists will spend more time in these groupings than they will with members of their own news organizations. The friendly mood will stop cold, though, once the action starts.
Even though everyone knows what Trump looks like, and even though his walk through the hallway may take only a matter of seconds, it will be essential to capture that moment, for their own job, their professional reputation and, of course, to satisfy the public’s curiosity.
Mary Angela Bock is Associate Professor of Journalism at the University of Texas at Austin.
DaleL says
Mr. Trump is accused of election interference. Karen McDougal and Stephanie Clifford (Aka Stormy Daniels) claim he committed adultery with them in 2006 and perhaps 2007. Melania Trump gave birth to Barron Trump in March 2006. Had their stories come out in 2016, it is possible that Hillary Clinton would have been elected instead of Mr. Trump.
I think it is significant that Melania Trump is NOT by her husband’s side in court or on the campaign trail. I wonder if in return for her silence, she has their wedding prenup rewritten?
Endless Dark Money says
Have you ever seen so much obstruction from the republicons avoiding any and all responsibility for their crimes. Ever heard of a black man getting 99 felonies and not go prison for life? Yeah me either.
Bill C says
Can’t get past the ridiculous 50’s hairdo, the makeup, the psycho eyes, the constant lying and superlative self congratulation. Will the real Donald Trump please stand up?
Sherry says
We should always remember that trump has already been found “GUILTY” (TWICE) by a jury of his peers for raping (found guilty of sexual assault), and then repeatedly defaming his VICTIM, E. Jean Carroll :
Donald Trump, it turns out, can’t do whatever he wants. A Manhattan jury only took a few hours to award E. Jean Carroll $83 million for defaming her in the years since she accused him of sexual assault.
Most of the award, $65 million, was for punitive damages against Trump, who had already been found liable, in a civil trial last year, for sexually abusing Carroll. In this trial, Carroll’s lawyer had argued that Trump “doesn’t care about the law or truth but does care about money.”
She was right: Trump, who had recently made more than 40 insulting comments about Carroll in less than an hour, complained afterward about the verdict and the court. But he stopped attacking Carroll.
AND- Where are the words, condemning this horrific behavior, from the MAGA members who comment here ad nauseum????
dave says
hush-money trial. Here’s is what going to happen. He is found guilty, but has no criminal record so the judge puts him on probation and maybe he has to pay more money. That’s it, no jail. But of course, it’s all within the judge’s discretion on what punishment Trump gets. But its still a circus.
DaleL says
Mr. Trump is charged with three counts of falsifying business records in the first degree which are class E felonies under New York law. If convicted the normal minimum sentence is one year in jail. However, you (dave) are correct. With no prior criminal convictions, the Judge could sentence Mr. Trump to a lessor amount of jail time.
For example, in 2015, an executive of a building construction company was sentenced to two days per week in jail for one year for a bribery scheme in which he falsified records.
Because this is a state trial, should Mr. Trump be convicted and still elected president, he could not pardon himself.
Dave says
“an executive of a building construction company” is a whole lot different than the this narcissistic ex-President. Like I noted, it’s a darn circus and those who want to Make Trump Great Again, don’t appear to care if he is convicted or not.
Sherry says
We should also remember that trump has already been found GUILTY of FRAUD (lying) and has a Feb. 2024 judgement against him for 355 MILLION. Simply because the two GULITY verdicts were civil and not criminal does not mean he is an innocent, upstanding citizen. These are all symptoms of a baked in, sexually abusive, con artist who has been getting away from any accountability for many years.
Why, ANYONE would continue to think that such a person should be President of our country is totally brainwashed lunacy!
CHARACTER MATTERS!
Laurel says
Bill C: There is no “real.” It’s whatever wind fills his personal sails.
You know, while I’m at it, I find it incredibly disturbing that Trump stands behind a podium, and broadcasts to the audience that “Democrats are demons.” That is half of Americans! That is our families, our friends, our neighbors, our colleagues. What a horrible thing to say! That does NOT make America great, but divides and conquers us. The “United” States of America. MAGAs, don’t ever tell me that Obama was the divider. You damn well know better!
Laurel says
Trump talks to his followers on a simple level, and for that, they state “he tells it like it is.” Well, I guess he’s telling them something.
But you know what? Democrats are not much better. They bought into the “old” description of Biden though there is only a three year difference, and Trump is in worse physical (possibly mental (cofefe)) shape.
Where is that “intellectual rigor” Ray W. is always writing about?
Laurel says
They don’t care, and Trump knows it. He’s practically begging the judge to throw him in jail so he can continue his victim status.
This country is in a bad place, and it has little to do with the economy or migrants. Trump is playing that ideology card. It’s all made up, and big corporations, big oil and authoritarian countries will help him. That is until he screws them, and then he will be done. At that point, they will show him the exit but who will be next?
Bill C says
He can’t sleep at night, his guts are crawling because, deep down, he doesn’t know who he is and hates himself which he projects on others. His persona is a patched together loveless Frankenstein, hence his strange patched together appearance.
Sherry says
Excellent point, Laurel! 30-40% of US voters have become so Fox brainwashed that they have completely thrown their personal moral compass out the window along with their intellect. They will actually vote for a man who has been proven to be guilty in a court of law of “sexual abuse and massive fraud”!
The bottom line for me is that I am more disgusted by trump supporters than I am by trump himself.
And, you are right about big oil, big pharma, etc. They will continue to throw big bucks his way until things go sideways, and then they will find another puppet. That will never change. . . “follow the money”= the dark side of “capitalism”!
Dennis C Rathsam says
This trail is a sham, if TRUMP was running for president, & beating Biden there would be no trail. Biden & the democrats cant beat TRUMP fair & square! James & Bragg ran on the premise the would get TRUMP! NYC is a haven of democrats, this jury is a farce. Even if they convict TRUMP, he will be set free on appeal. The judge is a Biden donar, his daughter is making millions on her father & this trail. This is a week case, brought by democrates to stop TRUMP, & help Biden get re installed! Trump went to Harlem the other day, to the bodaga were Bragg put the owner in jail, for shooting a looter.Public out cry, Bragg had to let him free. The people all cheered, “We love TRUMP” “4 more years”!!! Imajine that? Hate TRUMP all you want. Hate his $2.00 gas! Hate the inflation rate he had of 1.4%? Hate the interest rate of 3%?. Russia invaded Ukraine under Obama, he did nothing! Russia invaded the Ukraine again his time under Biden! Why did this not happen under TRUMP? The Abraham Accord had peace in the middle east… Look what Biden has done now! Look whats happening to our great country? Murder, Crime, Drugs…. No bail!!!! Our founding fathers are rolling over in thier grave, as our constitution is being destroyed!
Sherry says
@dcr. . . Like I said. . . completely brainwashed!
Laurel says
Poor snowflake Trump! He’s freezing 🥶 in that courtroom! His snowflake daughter doesn’t want to show up on a school day, either. It’s just not fair.
Gosh, they got it tough and all for us. They got the backs of the MAGAs…on the right days…if it’s not too cold..or too hot…or…
WITCH HUNT!
Jackson says
This is just the beginning. The pressure is just going to build and build, as the cases that have been delayed start setting trial dates and others actually begin. And it’s not just the big 4 in FL, GA, DC and this one. There are several civil suits brought against him and possibilities that the trials of co-conspirators will lead to plea deals which will lead to even more criminal exposure for Trump. This isn’t a wish or desire necessarily on my part, but I see a heart attack or stroke before the election rolls around.