Yeah - they went judge shopping. It’s ultimately a bit of a roll of the dice as you said, but there are absolutely ways to game the system so that you have better odds of getting the judge you want. Which Trump’s lawyers absolutely did.
Trump knows what court district his resort is in, and one of the many shitty judges he appointed when he was president was to the district court where Mar-a-lago is.
From there: Cases are generally prosecuted in the district in which they were committed. For the classified documents case, the crime was committed at or around his residence:
Moving the boxes while he was president, though deeply sketchy, was technically not illegal.
Possession of the boxes after Biden was sworn in - and moreover, clear, unambiguous, and repeated attempts to stymie and misdirect investigations around where the documents went - is definitely illegal.
This ignores that he is also under investigation in other districts, at the state level, and the reports of other classified document incidents that happened in other locations but haven’t been charged (yet).
Your first bullet point is also moot, as Trump was not charged with taking documents, but rather keeping them without legal authority or permission.
Yeah - they went judge shopping. It’s ultimately a bit of a roll of the dice as you said, but there are absolutely ways to game the system so that you have better odds of getting the judge you want. Which Trump’s lawyers absolutely did.
How exactly would the defense be able to decide in which federal district the DOJ would prosecute the case?
Trump knows what court district his resort is in, and one of the many shitty judges he appointed when he was president was to the district court where Mar-a-lago is.
From there: Cases are generally prosecuted in the district in which they were committed. For the classified documents case, the crime was committed at or around his residence:
This ignores that he is also under investigation in other districts, at the state level, and the reports of other classified document incidents that happened in other locations but haven’t been charged (yet).
Your first bullet point is also moot, as Trump was not charged with taking documents, but rather keeping them without legal authority or permission.