Trump's lawyers ask judge to halt Friday's hush money case sentencing while they appeal to block it [View all]
Last edited Mon Jan 6, 2025, 02:51 PM - Edit history (1)
Source: AP
Updated 1:25 PM EST, January 6, 2025
NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump on Monday moved to indefinitely postpone this week’s sentencing in his hush money case as he appeals a ruling that upheld the verdict and put him on course to be the first president to take office convicted of crimes.
Trump’s lawyers say the case should be halted automatically while they ask a New York appeals court to reverse Judge Juan M. Merchan’s decision last week, which set the case for sentencing on Friday — little more than a week before his inauguration.
If sentencing proceeds as scheduled, Trump’s lawyers argued, he will be appealing the verdict while in office and will be “forced to deal with criminal proceedings for years to come.” They raised an improbable scenario in which, if Trump wins his appeal, he could be then subjected to another criminal trial while in office.
Merchan rejected Trump’s bid to throw out the verdict in light of his impending return to the White House but signaled that he is not likely to sentence the Republican to any punishment for his conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that it “would be the end of the Presidency as we know it” if the ruling is allowed to stand.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/trump-hush-money-sentencing-e20933f9418bd378925e5f9e75f28485
NO MORE DELAY. JUST DO IT MERCHAN.
Article updated.
Previous articles -
NEW YORK (AP) -- President-elect Donald Trump on Monday moved to halt this week's sentencing in his hush money case while he appeals a judge's decision that upheld the historic verdict and put him on course to be the first president to take office convicted of felony crimes.
Trump's lawyers said they will ask a New York appeals court to reverse Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan's ruling last week, which set the case for sentencing on Friday -- a little more than a week before his inauguration. Merchan rejected Trump's bid to throw out the May 30 verdict because of his impending return to the White House. Trump's lawyers said they will also appeal a prior decision in which the judge refused to dismiss the case on presidential immunity grounds.
In his decision last week, the judge signaled he is not likely to sentence Trump, a Republican, to any punishment for his historic conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Trump has said that it "would be the end of the Presidency as we know it" if the ruling is allowed to stand.
Trump's lawyers argued Monday that their appeal to the Appellate Division of the state's trial court should trigger what's known as an automatic stay, or pause, in the proceedings. If that doesn't happen, they said, Merchan should step in and halt Friday's sentencing.
NEW YORK (AP) -- President-elect Donald Trump asked a judge Monday to halt this week's sentencing in his hush money case while they appeal his recent rulings upholding the verdict.
Trump's lawyers said they plan to ask a state appeals court to reverse Judge Juan M. Merchan's decision last week, which set the case for sentencing on Friday -- little over a week before he's sworn in for his second term. In a pair of rulings in recent weeks, Merchan rejected Trump's bid to throw out the verdict and dismiss the indictment on presidential immunity grounds and because of his impending return to the White House.
In a decision last week, the judge signaled he is not likely to sentence Trump, a Republican, to any punishment for his historic conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Acknowledging the demands of the transition process, he had given Trump the option to attend in person or appear virtually by video.
Trump's lawyers argued in court papers Monday that their planned appeal to the Appellate Division of the state's trial court triggers what's known as an automatic stay, or pause, in the proceedings. If that doesn't happen, they argued, Merchan should then grant a pause and prevent sentencing from happening on Friday as scheduled.
Original article -
NEW YORK (AP) -- President-elect Donald Trump asked a judge Monday to halt this week's sentencing in his hush money case while they appeal a ruling upholding the verdict.
Trump's lawyers said they plan to ask a state appeals court to reverse Judge Juan M. Merchan decision last week, which set the case for sentencing on Friday.
Merchan rejected Trump's bid to throw out the verdict and dismiss the indictment in light of his impending return to the White House. Trump's lawyers argued that their appeal should trigger what's known as an automatic stay, or pause, in the proceedings. If that doesn't happen, they argued, Merchan should then grant a pause and prevent sentencing from happening on Friday as scheduled.
In his decision last week, the judge signaled he is not likely to sentence Trump, a Republican, to any punishment for his historic conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. While Trump asserted that presidential immunity and his looming second term necessitated nixing the verdict, Merchan wrote in his Jan. 3 ruling that only "bringing finality to this matter" by sentencing Trump would serve the interests of justice.
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