Today is just the beginning in what could prove to be a long, drawn-out legal process for Donald Trump.
Legal cases like this can take months, sometimes even years to play out, but here are some of the things we know have to happen after Trump appears in court.
Disclosure of evidence
Within 15 days of the arraignment, the prosecution must hand over all evidence gathered as part of the investigation to the defence.
This is known as “discovery” and includes the minutes from the grand jury process, testimony of every witness interviewed by law enforcement (although some may be redacted), every exhibit shown to the grand jury, and other records prosecutors obtained such as telephone records, tapes, emails etc.
Motions will be filed
Trump’s team has already said they will file motions to dismiss the case before it goes to trial.
Generally, the defence has 45 days to file motions after arraignment, but the judge has discretion to grant more time.
Without knowing what is in the indictment, we can’t predict what tack Trump’s lawyers will take, but he has already floated the idea of filing a motion to transfer the case out of Manhattan.
Motions to change venue are rarely granted as the defence would need to convince the judge that Trump wouldn’t be able to get a fair hearing in New York due to pre-trial publicity.
With the amount of media attention this case has already generated across America, it is hard to see a judge agreeing to that.
Other motions will likely hinge on arguments about the statute of limitations having expired, the nature of the charges involving federal campaign violations, or other attacks on the sufficiency of the evidence.
Jeremy Saland, a former assistant district attorney, suggested Trump’s team could file catch-all motion to dismiss the indictment — known as a “Clayton motion”— seeking to have the judge throw the case out not on the merits, but in the interests of justice.
Trump’s day in court
The “speedy trial” rule in New York states that prosecutors must be ready to try a felony case within six months, but what’s on the books is frequently different to what happens.
Mr Saland added: “I could see this go north of year. They are going to file every motion in book.”