Here are all the ways Judge Aileen Cannon can tip the scales in Trump's favor

• The judge overseeing the DOJ's case against Trump has the power to tip the scales in Trump's favor.
• She will make decisions about the trial's schedule, jury selection, and what evidence is admissible.
• "These decisions shape the entire case," said one former federal prosecutor.

US District Judge Aileen Cannon is no stranger to being in the spotlight. But she's under a new level of scrutiny as she prepares to preside over a pretrial hearing Tuesday afternoon that could have huge and far-reaching implications for former President Donald Trump and the 2024 political landscape.

It's the first hearing Cannon, a Trump nominee, is overseeing as part of the Justice Department's historic prosecution of the former president related to his handling of classified documents. And in that capacity, the 41-year-old Floridian holds the keys to Trump's fate.

Judges have "enormous power to shift a case in a particular direction through their rulings, big and small," Duncan Levin, a former prosecutor from the Manhattan district attorney's office, told Insider.

Schedule of the trial

Among other things, judges decide who sits on a jury, what evidence juries hear, what's covered by a protective order, and what charges should be allowed to go forward.

In this case, Cannon will also determine the schedule of the trial itself. The special counsel Jack Smith's office has argued for a speedy trial that wraps up by the end of the year. Trump's lawyers don't want the trial to start until after the 2024 election.

If Cannon grants Trump's request after Tuesday's hearing, it would mean that the trial could unfold during a second Trump presidency, and Trump could pardon himself in the event of a conviction. And that's if he doesn't instruct the Justice Department to drop the case against him altogether.

"Here, one of the most consequential decisions could be timing because there has never before been a case where a criminal defendant has the real potential to become president and instruct DOJ to dismiss the charges," Levin said.

Cannon could have enormous influence over what Trump's jury will look like

The former president also lucked out with the location of the trial. Cannon said it'll take place at her courthouse in Fort Pierce, Florida, meaning that Trump's jurors will be drawn from the reddest part of the court district.

Jury selection is one of the biggest ways in which Cannon can influence the case in Trump's favor.

The judge can "dismiss an unlimited number of potential jurors for cause, or because they can't be fair and impartial to Trump," Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor and the president of West Coast Trial Lawyers, told Insider. "In a politically charged prosecution like this, jury selection is everything, and a jury that favors Trump may hang or even acquit notwithstanding the strong evidence of guilt."

Legal experts said that in addition to filing motions to dismiss the case entirely, Trump's team could use a defense tactic known as "graymail," which involves trying to force the government to disclose classified information during the trial.

It's up to Cannon "to allow the government to admit redacted versions or summaries of classified documents" to avoid revealing national security information to the public, Rahmani said.

Cannon's decisions will determine 'what the government has to prove and what it's allowed to use to prove it,' one former prosecutor said

The government could appeal some of Cannon's decisions, like if she dismisses the case entirely or issues orders about how to handle classified information. But some orders are not immediately appealable and can only be reversed via an extraordinary writ, said Ken White, a former federal prosecutor who's now a partner at Brown, White & Osborn.

And even when a judicial decision can be reviewed, "there are dramatically different standards of appeal," meaning how much deference is given to the trial court's decision, White said.

If Cannon grants Trump's request for a trial date after the 2024 general election, that order wouldn't be immediately appealable. And if it was reviewed on an extraordinary writ, the review would likely happen "in a way that is extremely deferential to her judgment," White said.

As the case moves forward, Cannon will get to make decisions about the suppression of evidence, accusations of government misconduct, judgments about what evidence should be admitted, decisions about jury instructions, and more.

"These decisions shape the entire case," White said, adding that they determine "what the government has to prove and what it's allowed to use to prove it."