New York appeals court denies halting Trump's sentencing

A New York appellate judge on Tuesday declined to suspend President-elect Trump’s Friday sentencing on his hush money criminal conviction.

Judge Ellen Gesmer of the state’s midlevel appeals court rejected Trump’s emergency petition to immediately halt the proceeding, which is set to cement his status as a felon before he returns to the White House.

Now, Trump is expected to ask a full panel to stop the sentencing from moving forward while he appeals two rulings by Judge Juan Merchan allowing his conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal a hush money payment to a porn star to stand.

But Trump has requested a hearing date of Jan. 27, a week after the inauguration, when the case is expected to be frozen.

Merchan ruled last week that Trump’s sentencing could take place despite his upcoming inauguration, rejecting the incoming president’s arguments that his election victory should mark an end to the case. The judge previously decided that the conviction could withstand the Supreme Court’s landmark decision carving out criminal immunity for former presidents.

Trump’s attorneys argued that their intention to appeal those “incorrect” decisions should automatically pause any proceedings in Merchan’s court.

The president-elect's legal team has long argued that Trump’s jury saw official evidence protected by the Supreme Court’s ruling, like his social media posts while in office and testimony from White House aides. They’ve separately contended that the immunity protections afforded to a sitting president should be extended to the transitional period while he is president-elect, which would mean the case must be tossed.

"Justice Merchan is without authority under the law to proceed to sentencing while President Trump exercises his federal constitutional right to challenge these rulings,” Trump’s attorneys wrote in their petition to the appeals court.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office opposed any delay in the sentencing, arguing that the sentencing is the only remaining proceeding and that its proximity to Trump’s inauguration can be blamed on the president-elect's delay tactics.

A New York jury found Trump guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment made to porn actor Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election so she would keep an alleged affair secret.

Given Trump’s imminent return to the Oval Office, Merchan previously signaled he intends to sentence Trump to an unconditional discharge, which would solidify his conviction without imposing any punishment, such as prison time.

The judge said he is not inclined to hand down a sentence of incarceration, given concerns about his immunity from criminal prosecution upon taking the oath of office.

Trump’s New York case is the only one of the president-elect's criminal cases to have reached trial. Since his election victory, his two federal cases have been dismissed, and his Georgia charges remain in limbo after Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) was disqualified from the case.

Topics

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