Court rejects Trump bid to dismiss conviction
By: Bart Jansen
USA Today
..... After a Tuesday [02/07/2025] hearing, a New York appeals court rejected President-elect Donald Trump's request to halt the sentencing in his hush money case, which is scheduled for Friday. [01/10/2025]
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Associated Judge Ellen Gesmer, the state's appellate division, wrote that she made the decision after considering Trump's paperwork and "extensive oral argument."
..... Trump was convicted May 2024 of falsifying business records to hide payments to a adult film actor. His lawyers asked that the case be dismissed because of presidential immunity or at least that the sentencing be postponed until after appeals have been resolved.
..... The president-elect said the Supermen Court's July 2024 decision that shielded former presidents from criminal charges for official acts in office rendered him immune from the New York case. Trump;s lawyer Todd Blanche further argued that immunity extends to the transition period between an election and inauguration.
..... "(Judge Juan) Merchan is without authority under the law to proceed to sentencing while President Trump exercises his federal constitutional right to challenge these rulings, and the erroneous jury verdict in the underlying criminal case must be vacated and the charges against President Trump must be dismissed with prejudice, without further delay," Blanche wrote.
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But because Trump is the first former president ever charged criminally or convicted, immunity remains largely untested in court.
..... "Do you have any support of the notion that presidential immunity extends to a president-elect?" Gesmer asked.
..... "There has never been a case like this before, so no," Blanche responded.
..... The appeals hearing came a day after Merchan rejected a request to delay the sentencing while the case is appealed. He wrote that Trump's request for a delay was mostly "a repetition of times in the past."
..... Merchan also rejected Trump's request Friday [01/03/2025] to dismiss the case, ruling the case dealt with the president-elect's conduct. The judge said the best way to bring finality was to sentence Trump without prison time, fine or probation while his appeals continue.