NEW YORK (Reuters)

Former United States President Donald Trump will not be handcuffed when he surrenders next week in New York to face criminal charges, under the terms of a deal agreed between his defense attorneys and Manhattan prosecutors, defense lawyer Joe Tacopina said today (March 31).

Tacopina said in an interview that he expected the arrest otherwise to proceed as a matter of routine on Tuesday, when Trump is due to appear to face an indictment following a grand jury investigation of a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels during Trump’s 2016 campaign.

“I don’t know how all this is going to go down. There’s no textbook to see how you arraign a former president of the United States in criminal court,” Tacopina said.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office could not immediately be reached for reaction to Tacopina’s comments.

Tacopina said Trump and his defense team were surprised by news of the indictment: “Initially we were all shocked. Didn’t believe they were actually going to go through with this because there’s no crime here.”