Judge Juan Merchan has delayed Donald Trump’s sentencing in the hush money/election interference case until Sept. 18, in response to a request by the former president’s attorneys to throw out his conviction. The developments come a day after the Supreme Court granted the former president broad immunity from prosecution for official actions taken as president.
Merchan issued his decision in a filing on Tuesday. He said the sentencing will take place “if such is still necessary.” Merchan has to first rule on Trump’s request to throw out his conviction based on the SCOTUS
The New York Times wrote:
Merchan “may ultimately find no basis to overturn the jury’s verdict, but Tuesday’s delay is a surprising setback for the case, which had led to the first conviction of an American president. The sentencing had been likely to be the only moment of criminal accountability for the twice-impeached and four-time-indicted former president whose other cases are mired in delay.” …
Merchan announced the delay in sentencing after Manhattan prosecutors agreed with Trump’s request to postpone his criminal sentencing which had been scheduled for July 11.
Earlier Tuesday The New York Times reported:
Manhattan prosecutors on Tuesday agreed with Donald J. Trump’s request to postpone his criminal sentencing so that the judge overseeing the case could weigh whether a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling might imperil his conviction, new court filings show.
It is up to the judge to determine whether to postpone the sentencing, though with both sides in agreement, it seems likely he would do so.
Mr. Trump, who was convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to his cover-up of a sex scandal during his 2016 presidential campaign, was scheduled to be sentenced on July 11. He faces up to four years in prison, though he could receive as little as a few weeks in jail, or probation.
On Monday, the Supreme Court granted Mr. Trump broad immunity from prosecution for official actions taken as president, dealing a major setback to his federal criminal case in Washington, where he is accused of plotting to overturn his 2020 election loss.
The case brought by New York County District Attorney Alvin Bragg did not center on official acts that took place during his presidency, but on personal activity during his campaign regarding the hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
But the Supreme Court ruling said prosecutors cannot use evidence involving official acts as president to support other accusations.
The Times reported that Trump’s lawyers argued that the conviction in the Manhattan case should be set aside and asked Merchan to delay the sentencing while he considered their motion.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office replied that prosecutors did not oppose Trump’s request to delay sentencing.
Joshua Steinglass, one of the assistant district attorneys who prosecuted the case against Trump, wrote in a letter signed by the prosecution team..
“Although we believe defendant’s arguments to be without merit, we do not oppose his request for leave to file and his putative request to adjourn sentencing pending determination of his motion,” Steinglass wrote.
Trump’s lawyers proposed filing their court papers on July 10, and the Manhattan district attorney’s office requested that it be granted a deadline of July 24 to respond. Trump’s sentencing has now been pushed past the July 15-18 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
NBC News reported that in a statement released Monday, President Joe Biden’s campaign spokesman James Singer said that the Supreme Court ruling has “nothing to do with Donald Trump being convicted of 34 felonies for paying hush money to a porn star and then breaking the law to cover it up.”
“At the end of the day, Donald Trump is a convicted felon precisely because he believed he’s above the law and was willing to do anything to gain power,” Singer said. “That’s why he’s a threat and must be defeated."
Here’s some reaction:
“If you think that a judge will see Trump paying off an adult entertainer, who he slept, with in order to prevent himself from losing an election in 2015, as “an official act as President “ then you are stupid. Sorry.”
The New York Times wrote:
Merchan “may ultimately find no basis to overturn the jury’s verdict, but Tuesday’s delay is a surprising setback for the case, which had led to the first conviction of an American president. The sentencing had been likely to be the only moment of criminal accountability for the twice-impeached and four-time-indicted former president whose other cases are mired in delay.” …