- Donald Trump's hush-money criminal trial opened April 15 in a Lower Manhattan courtroom.
- Courtroom sketch artists have captured the former president's many moods during the trial.
- Trump faces 34 felony counts for falsifying business records in the historic case.
Former President Donald Trump's historic hush-money criminal trial officially got underway inside a Lower Manhattan courtroom on April 15.
Video cameras are not permitted in the dreary 15th-floor courtroom to broadcast the landmark case.
But sketch artists, as well as photographers, have been able to offer the public glimpses of Trump as he faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
Prosecutors allege that Trump lied on the documents to cover up hush-money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Trump has pleaded not guilty.
It's the first-ever criminal trial of a former president — and the courtroom sketch artists have already captured many moods of Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, during the jury selection process.
At times he was sleepy, with his eyes closed for minutes at a time. More often he was caught with a scowl. Occasionally, he flashed a smile.
Here are some of those sketches:
On day one of his trial, Trump took the opportunity to smile at the pool of prospective jurors
Before Trump headed into the courtroom for the opening of the trial, he slammed the case against him as "political persecution"
Trump's hush-money trial is expected to last for six weeks and he's complained that it's preventing him from hitting the campaign trail
And it'll be a long six weeks — reporters in the courtroom noted that Trump appeared to doze off, at times, during the slogging process of jury selection
Trump was highly alert when New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan chastised him on April 16, warning him against intimidating potential jurors
"He was gesturing and muttering something…He was speaking in the direction of the juror. I will not tolerate that," Merchan told Trump's lead lawyer, Todd Blanche
At times, Trump had to sit by and listen as his attorneys complained about anti-Trump social media posts made by juror prospects
By April 18, two of the seven jurors that had been empaneled in the trial were dismissed
