Facing the prospect of five civil and criminal trials over the course of seven months, former President Donald Trump’s trial dance card is quite full. It’s not at all unusual for criminal defendants to have multiple cases pending against them simultaneously in multiple jurisdictions. This can happen when people choose a life of crime. However, there are only so many days in a week and months in a year. So, what happens when trial dates collide?
Trump’s current trial schedule is as follows: On Jan. 16, 2024, E. Jean Carroll’s second defamation trial against Trump begins. In March, two of his criminal trials commence: His federal trial for 2020 election interference begins in Washington on March 4, and the New York state trial for falsifying business records begins March 25. Two months later, the other federal criminal trial — regarding mishandling of classified documents — begins in Florida. Finally, Fulton County District Attorney Fain Willis has requested Aug. 5, 2024, as the proposed trial date in Trump’s Georgia state RICO case.
Judges are understandably loath to force a defense team into “back-to-back” trials.
Of course, all charges are simply allegations at this point and, as is the case with any defendant, at the beginning of each criminal trial the jurors will be instructed that they are to presume Trump innocent unless and until the evidence proves his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Let’s start with the most obvious calendar conflict. If Trump’s D.C. trial begins on March 4, that trial will still be in progress when his New York trial is scheduled to begin. Unlike civil trials, defendants ordinarily must be present for every session of their criminal trial. Under those circumstances, the latter trial would have to be rescheduled to a later date.
There are indications that the judges in these two cases anticipated this conflict. At a court hearing in the federal case, Judge Tanya Chutkan stated on the record that she had spoken with Judge Juan Merchan, the judge presiding over the New York case, and informed him of her intent to set a March 4 trial date. Although Chutkan said nothing about the substance of their conversation, it seems the judges agreed that the federal trial will take precedence over the state trial.
Other potential trial date conflicts are murkier. For example, what might happen if the D.C. trial bumps up against the May 20 trial date in Florida?
In my three decades as a federal prosecutor, I have seen that judges are understandably loath to force a defense team into “back-to-back” trials. Judges understand that defense attorneys are constitutionally obligated to represent their clients effectively and zealously. To meet that obligation, attorneys need adequate time to prepare for trial, particularly in the weeks, and even months, before a scheduled trial date. Finishing one lengthy trial in Washington, only to turn right around and begin a second lengthy trial in Florida would hamstring Trump’s defense team.
While Trump might welcome the delay in the classified documents trial, this result may have some unanticipated consequences.
But there is another reason that the two federal trials are unlikely to collide. Earlier this month, Judge Aileen Cannon extended several filing and hearing deadlines in Trump’s Florida case. The likely result will be that that trial will not start on May 20. Judge Cannon seemed to anticipate (if only tacitly) that eventuality by directing the parties — special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecutors and Trump’s defense attorneys — to attend a scheduling conference hearing on March 1, just three days before the scheduled commencement of the D.C. trial. Assuming the latter trial is on track to begin on March 4, Judge Cannon will almost certainly vacate the May 20 trial date and set the Florida trial well off into the future — perhaps even after the 2024 election.
Delaying his trials until after the election is precisely what Trump and his attorneys have angled for all along. At a recent hearing, Trump attorney John Lauro told Judge Chutkan that the “obvious” way Trump can receive a fair trial in the D.C. case is if the trial is pushed until after November 2024. “This trial will not yield to the election cycle,” Judge Chutkan replied, “and we will not revisit the trial date.”
But while Trump might welcome the delay in the classified documents trial, this result may have some unanticipated consequences for him. Assuming the D.C. trial wraps up in late April or early May 2024, that would give Trump and his attorneys ample time to prepare for the Georgia trial set to begin in August. Trump’s “victory” may be a hollow one, as a postponed Florida trial will do little more than free him up for his Georgia trial.
Much can still change with each case’s timeline in the coming weeks and months. Trying to figure out which of these trials will commence on a previously set trial date and which will be delayed to some future date is a bit like a game of musical chairs, with the parties not quite knowing when the music might stop. But one way or another, Donald Trump inevitably will have to face the music.