(AFP) – A New York appeals court judge on Tuesday rejected US President-elect Donald Trump’s request to delay this week’s sentencing in his hush money case. Trump is scheduled to be sentenced on Friday after being convicted by a New York jury in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Associate Justice Ellen Gesmer rejected arguments by Trump’s attorneys that the sentencing should be postponed while the president-elect appeals his conviction. Trump’s lawyers also claimed that the immunity from prosecution granted to a president should be extended to a president-elect, but Gesmer brushed those arguments aside, too. “After consideration of the papers submitted and the extensive oral argument, movant’s application for an interim stay is denied,” she said.
Trump, who is to be sworn in as president on January 20, can appeal Gesmer’s ruling to the full appellate court bench and potentially up to the Supreme Court. Judge Juan Merchan, who presided over the hush money case, has given Trump, the first former US president ever convicted of a crime, the option of appearing either in person or virtually at Friday’s sentencing. Merchan has also said he was not inclined to impose jail time on the former and future president.
Trump lashed out at Merchan during a press conference on Tuesday, calling him a “crooked judge” and complaining about a gag order issued in the case. Trump was convicted of falsifying business records to cover up a payment made to Daniels on the eve of the 2016 election to stop her from revealing an alleged 2006 sexual encounter.
Trump was certified as the winner of the 2024 presidential election on Monday, four years after his supporters rioted at the US Capitol as he sought to overturn his 2020 defeat. Trump’s attorneys had sought to have the case dismissed on multiple grounds, including the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling last year that former US presidents have sweeping immunity from prosecution for a range of official acts committed while in office.
In an 18-page decision last week, Merchan rejected the motions but noted that Trump will be immune from prosecution once he is sworn in as president. He said he was leaning towards giving Trump an unconditional discharge — meaning the New York real estate tycoon would not only avoid the threat of jail, but would escape conditions of any kind. The sentence would nevertheless see Trump entering the White House as a convicted felon. The 78-year-old Trump potentially faced up to four years in prison, but legal experts — even before he won the November presidential election — did not expect Merchan to incarcerate him.
© 2024 AFP
