The former president of the United States, Donald Trump, started the first of four criminal trials this week.
Even if the former president was facing only one trial it would be worth repeating because of the historic value: No other ex-president has ever stood before a judge and jury in a criminal case.
But Trump has four cases in front of him. This one is in Manhattan.
The case that started this week, the one revolving around money paid to an actress during his 2016 presidential campaign to cover up the affair with the pornography star reminded me of a brief incident in a South Bay courtroom years ago.
Once, while passing time in a courtroom I watched a defendant ushered in from the holding area.
I am chagrined to admit I thought he looked like a punk.
My snap judgement had nothing to do with his head-to-toe jail attire or the shackles he wore. The assessment I made was based on the way he carried himself. The scowl and the challenging amble accompanied by a scan of the nearly empty room.
The benefit of the doubt should have reminded me that anyone in his situation might put on offensive demeanor as a means of self preservation. But his behavior told me otherwise.
His attorney was not as well dressed or groomed as the defense attorneys I was there to watch in a case down the hall. His coat was wrinkled and his slacks did not appear tailored.
The “punk” caught the judge’s attention during the rudimentary proceeding. The attorney was directed to tell his client to refrain from muttering and interrupting. The defendant did not like being told what he could do. He proceeded with more outbursts. The judge warned him directly. The lad responded with curses and the judge had him led away.
Even before all the jurors have been picked for his trial, Trump has been admonished for his behavior in and out of the courtroom. He’s been warned about making remarks loud enough for potential jurors to hear. And prosecutors have asked that he be sanctioned for social media posts he made denigrating a witness and potential jurors.
It’s obvious Trump, like that punk in the South Bay courtroom, does not like being told what to do. But unlike that Chula Vista defendant, no consequences have befallen Trump for shooting his mouth off.
