(NewsNation) — Past celebrity trials were broadcast on television for all the public to see, but that may not be the case for the upcoming trial of former President Donald Trump. That’s because cameras are rarely allowed in federal court unless the judge makes an exception.
Criminal defense attorney Mark Geragos knows all about rules regarding cameras in the courtroom. He has represented high-profile defendants including the late Michael Jackson, Scott Peterson, Jussie Smollett and Chris Brown.
Geragos does not expect cameras to be allowed in the court during Trump’s trial on charges he mishandled documents.
“Anything could happen. I’ve been doing this for 40 years. I would bet that it’s not going to be televised in Florida,” Geragos told NewsNation host Elizabeth Vargas on Thursday.
“The federal courts loathe to ever have televised proceedings, so that is about as unlikely as that federal trial going sometime before the next election,” Geragos continued.
For the sake of transparency, some have called for the case to be tried on television. Others think the federal rules should stand without exception to avoid a media circus.
Geragos doesn’t think it’s a “hard and fast rule.” In certain cases, he wishes he would have fought to have cameras in court.
“Scott Peterson, who I defended 20 years ago, I went along with the prosecution’s request to not have cameras in the courtroom. Halfway through, I realized that was a major mistake because what was happening was people were reporting second- and third-hand what was happening in the courtroom and it bore no resemblance to what actually was happening,” Geragos said. “And I thought it would have been better, in retrospect, if cameras had been in the courtroom.”
Without cameras, Geragos thinks certain court proceedings can be filtered through the subjectivity of various reporters.
“It ends up being filtered in ways that it was never intended to be,” Geragos said.
Trump entered a not guilty plea Tuesday to 37 federal charges in Miami, including 31 under the Espionage Act for allegedly mishandling classified documents.
According to the indictment, investigators recovered documents from Mar-a-Lago including sensitive national security information about the military and U.S. nuclear weapons, as well as military contingency plans and correspondence involving foreign leaders.
Trump is the first former president to face federal charges.