As everyone has seen on the news, former president Donald Trump has been indicted by a New York grand jury. This is an unprecedented event that has never happened to a president before, so let's examine what an indictment is and what it means.. 

Legally speaking, an indictment is when a grand jury, a group of 16 to 23 members (size varies by state) agrees whether or not a person should be formally charged with a crime. While this is still a “formal charge”, the person being accused of the crime is still innocent until proven guilty. The grand jury is looking over the facts of the case to determine if there is enough evidence to have a trial. In Donald Trump's case, the New York grand jury found that there was sufficient evidence to continue with his trial. 

What is Donald Trump being accused of? Trump is being accused of 34 felony counts related to business fraud, relating to his involvement in paying hush money to an adult film actress. This may sound confusing, so here is the run down. Stormy Daniels, an adult film star, claims she had an affair with the former president in 2006. To stop her from sharing her story to the news, Trump's lawyer, Michael Cohen, paid her $130,000 before the 2016 election. Hush money is not illegal, but falsifying records of that payment is. Donald Trump is accused of recording the payment as “legal fees”. While falsifying records are usually misdemeanor offenses, the New York district attorney, Alvin Bragg claims that Trump falsified these records to conceal a crime, which violates the federal campaign finance law. Trump's defense finds that this connection is a stretch and feels it is possibly politically motivated. 

What's next? The next step in the process after someone is indicted with a crime is their arraignment. This is when a person who is accused of a crime goes to court and enters their plea of “guilty” or “not guilty”. On April 4th, Trump pled not guilty to all 34 counts. After Trump’s hearing, he promptly returned to his home in Florida. The next court date will not be for a while as there are set pre-trial proceedings that can take months or even years. There are many theories regarding what Donald Trump's defense team will do to get the case dismissed. His attorneys will most likely file pre-trial motions which will push the case back even further. 

Will Donald Trump go to prison? It is very unlikely that Trump will go to prison. While felony offenses carry 4 year sentences, he would most certainly serve less, if any. In other, similar cases, a defendant who is in their 70’s, with no other prior convictions would not see jail time, either. 

There are a couple things that will take place in the next few months in between Trump’s arraignment and next court date. The prosecutors will hand over any discovery documents. This includes witness statements and grand jury exhibits. Later, a second and third batch of discovery documents will be handed over to the defense. These include other witness materials, police documents and any emails from the district attorney's office. All motions will then be filed with the courts. These motions can be used to change a decision of the court. For example, it is believed Trump's defense will file for a motion to change the charges to misdemeanors instead of felonies. Former president Trump’s next court date is set for December 4th, 2023.