Will Trump be arrested after indictment in hush money case?

Former US president, Donald Trump was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury on Thursday, after a probe into investigations made during his 2016 presidential campaign to silence claim of an extramarital sexual encounter.

The indictment in the first criminal case ever brought against a former US president remains sealed for now.

Reports said that Trump is expected to turn himself in next week. The details of the surrender are still being worked out, it has been reported.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office said it had contacted Trump's lawyer to coordinate his surrender and arraignment.

For any defendant from New York, irrespective of status, answering criminal charges means being fingerprinted and photographed, fielding basic questions such as birthdate and name, and getting arraigned. Defendants are typically detained for several hours.

There can be differences in where the different steps happen. It would also need to be seen how long this process takes places, whether handcuffs could come out and other particulars. A lot depends on the severity of the case and whether the defendants arrange to turn themselves in.

Being an ex-president, Trump is under the protection of the US Secret Services. They are tasked with the protection of the former president, unless and until they say they do not need it. Trump has kept his details, so agents will be by his side all the time.

Jeremy Saland, a defence lawyer and former prosecutor in Manhattan said that this would be a unique outlier.

Saland predicts that if Trump turns himself in, expect a carefully choreographed and relatively quick process and release without bail and also with a focus on security. He also said that a former president is not expected to be paraded in cuffs across a sidewalk or through a crowded courthouse hallway.

"It is a public forum, but security is paramount," Saland said.

Take the example of the former finance chief of Trump's company, Allen Weisselberg. He was indicted in Manhattan on tax fraud charges in 2021. He was able to turn himself in, at a courthouse side door before normal workday hours.

He arrived at round 6.15 am and was taken to what his attorneys described as a holding room for booking, an interview about potential release, and other procedures.

Weisselberg was arraigned and released eight hours later, after being walked into a courtroom past a phalanx of news cameras in the hallway. He eventually pleaded guilty to dodging taxes on job perks including a free apartment and school tuition for his grandchildren.

Disgraced movie mogul, Harvey Weinstein on the other hand had turned himself at a police station in Manhattan in 2018 to face rape and criminal sex act charges. He was briefly in a station house cell, before being led out in handcuffs and taken to court under the gaze of journalists on a sidewalk.

Weinstein was within three hours released arraigned and released on electronic monitoring and $1 million bail. He was eventually convicted and his appeal is not before a New York's highest court.

Even on a scheduled arrest, defendants have to give up cellphones and some other personal items for safekeeping. Lawyers are in general not allowed to accompany their clients during this process. The usual advice given to defendants to travel light and stay mum.