Special Counsel Jack Smith may have wished he could indict and try former president Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., where Trump is disliked, rather than in southern Florida, where Trump is popular.

But based on my experience as a scholar of criminal law and procedure, as well as my time practicing criminal law, I believe that under the Constitution–and under the circumstances–Smith had little choice but to prosecute Trump in Florida.

Gabriel “Jack” Chin is a professor and the director of legal education at the University of California, Davis School of Law. Courtesy photo Gabriel “Jack” Chin is a professor and the director of legal education at the University of California, Davis School of Law. Courtesy photo