The Real Reason Trump Will Be Tried in South Florida – Top 3 Takeaways – June 13th, 2023
- All eyes are on Miami today, but they may not stay that way. For the second time in two and a half months an arraignment of our 45th president will take place. Unlike the first, the charges brought against Palm Beach County’s most prominent resident will be federal and brought in a courthouse in Miami. While the crowds will likely be huge, as will the security presence, what won’t be is what you’ll actually end up seeing. The federal courthouse in Miami has an underground entrance and no courtroom cameras. Put them together and what you’ll see will be considerably different than that of what was taking place inside of the Manhattan courthouse in April. As in nothing. This side of seeing Trump’s motorcade coming and going – you won’t see the 45th president at all unless he chooses to address the crowd after the arraignment directly (which you can rest assured his security detail would prefer he not do). But while all eyes will be on the Miami courthouse today, they’re somewhat unlikely to stay that way. As for what comes next once Trump is arraigned today is one of two timelines. The first and least likely is that in 70 days, the trial would begin. That’s the legal timeline outlined in the Speedy Trial Act of 1974. What’s most likely to occur in the indefinite time horizon provided through a series of appeals on the charges made by Trump’s legal team. Those could move quickly; those could move slowly. You know the old saying about the wheels of justice... The average time horizon for a single federal appeal is 3 to 6 months, so appeals could potentially playout for quite a while. But of course, this case is anything but average, it’s unprecedented, and as for what that may mean in terms of a timeline based upon potential appeals is a complete unknown. But the likelihood that it could be months, if not years (though you might imagine the prosecution will seek to get this done before the general election), before a trial would begin isn’t the only reason eyes will not remain in Miami for long. While it’s possible a trial may take place in the Miami courthouse, it’s not the most likely location of the eventual courthouse where a trial would take place. With charges having been brought in the Federal District of Florida, any of the four federal courthouses are available for use (there is a fifth in Key West - however that's not a viable option for this case). The four are the Miami courthouse, one in Fort Lauderdale, one in Fort Pierce and the one right here in West Palm Beach. The Miami courthouse was chosen today because it’s the largest and easiest to move Trump into and out of. But it’s not the court of the judge who randomly was selected to preside over the case – ironically Trump appointee Aileen Cannon, her court is the Ft. Pierce federal courthouse. But neither of those are closest to where the alleged crimes were committed. If prosecutor Jack Smith’s aim is to geographically present the fairest by-the-book case based on legal precedent...
- The most likely courthouse to be used will be the West Palm Beach courthouse whenever the case will be. Which means residents of Palm Beach County could be the eventual jurors. But the real reason why prosecutor Jack Smith is bringing the case in the Southern District of Florida as opposed to Washington D.C. isn’t likely what you’ve been led to believe. It’s the case involving another Smith that’s behind it. As timing would happen to have it there’s another case involving a Smith – this one suing the federal government over the appropriateness of federal venues. On March 28th the United States Supreme Court heard the case: Smith v. United States. At issue: Whether the proper remedy for the government’s failure to prove venue is an acquittal barring re-prosecution of the offense, as the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the 5th and 8th Circuits have held, or whether instead the government may re-try the defendant for the same offense in a different venue, as the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the 6th, 9th, 10th and 11th Circuits have held. While the issue of double jeopardy is an over-arching question in this particular case – what we have are conflicting federal appeals court rulings related to trying or retrying cases when the validity of venues are called into question. The reason Trump’s case is being heard in a Southern District of Florida court isn’t because Trump’s team might win the request for a venue change had charges been brought in Washington D.C. as many have suggested. It also isn’t due to “the strength of the case” as Jack Smith suggested. It’s because the United States Supreme Court will soon rule on a case, that based upon the decision... Could have led to Jack Smith’s case having been thrown out if brought in Washington D.C.
- There are jurisdictions and legal precedents that come into play with legal venues. The first is “original jurisdiction” which is when a court has the authority to hear a case over other courts. In the federal court system, there’s what’s known as “limited jurisdiction”, meaning they can only hear cases pertaining to federal statutes. While venue changes can happen for any number of reasons, the base jurisdiction standard is this: The court must be able to exercise control over the defendant or the property involved must be located in the area under the court's control. While classified documents are federal property thus under a D.C.’s court’s jurisdiction, there’s no other justifiable reason for a trial to be brought there over the one that’s here. We have a federal court system with regional courthouses across the country for this very reason. The Southern District of Florida is the only district in which both the statute and the intent of the statute applies to Donald Trump. With a SCOTUS decision looming on a separate but potentially highly relevant case for venue shopping, what I’ve just laid out is the real reason why Donald Trump’s case will be heard in South Florida as opposed to Washington D.C., and it’s why the most likely venue is in West Palm Beach as it’s the strongest venue of the four based on proximity. That, as the late great Paul Harvey would have said, is the rest of the story.