Trump still has ways to fight NY hush money case
Unclear if president-elect will ever be sentenced
By: Aysha Bagchi
USA today
..... President-elect Donald Trump lost a bid on Monday [12/16/2024] to get his 34 felony convictions tossed out base on a Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity, but he still has multiple avenues to fight the hush money case.
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New York Judge Juan Mercah ruled Monday [12/16/2024] that evidence presented at Trump's trial related to Trump's unofficial conduct, not to his official acts as president, and so the evidence was proper.
..... For instance, Merchan wrote that testimony about conversations with Trump dealing with an alleged sexual encounter before Trump's presidency weren't the type of public interest the Supreme Court was concerned about in its immunity ruling.
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Trump took to social media Tuesday [12/17/2024] to rail against Merchan's decision as "a completely illegal, psychotic order" that disrespected the Supreme Court.
..... As upset as Trump still has arguing the latest ruling, he still has arguments and potential strategies for fighting his felony convictions, and even the prosecution has suggested sentencing may not be appropriate anytime soon.
..... "I think the fight is :Does the conviction survive or not?' " Joshua Naftalis, a New York trial lawyer and former federal prosecutor, told USA Today. "And jail is sort of off the table."
..... Trump was convicted May 30 [2024] on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment made to adult film star Stormy Danial before the 2016 election. Daniels has alleged that she and Trump had a sexual encounter in 2006, a claim trump denies.
..... Manhattan District Attorney anvil Bragg's office declined to comment.
..... Earlier this month, [12/2024] the president-elect-s legal team field a motion arguing that the case - including Trump's convictions and indictment - should be thrown out because the ongoing proceedings are interfering with the presidential transition and will soon directly interfere with his presidency.
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Simply delaying proceedings until after Trump's presidency would still create "unacceptable diversions and distractedness President Trump's efforts to lead the Nation," according to Trump's motion.
..... The prosecutors who won the conviction against Trump are fighting back, arguing that "President-elect immunity odes not exist," and that trump's temporary immunity after his inauguration "will still not justify the extreme remedy of discarding the jury's unanimous guilty verdict."
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Merchan wrote in a Monday [12/16/2024] letter that he is currently reviewing those arguments but didn't say when he will rule on them.
..... Trump has successfully delayed his sentencing,, which was originally scheduled for July 11, [2024] several times. The latest scheduled date, November 26, [2024] was wiped from the calendar following trump's election.
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Prosecutors have floated multiple options, including delaying sentencing until after trump's next presidency or closing. Trump's case and canceling sentencing permanently, will still noting he was convicted but he didn't get a chance for his post-conviction appeal to play out.
..... Still Merchan may consider pushing for sentencing ahead of Trump's inauguration in the case, as poised to waiting another four years, according to New York litigant Joshua Naftalis.
..... A judge may just sort of say, "There's a public interest in resoling this and sentencing him, and the answer is, I'm going to move forward on whatever schedule, but I'm not going to put him in jail," Naftlais said.