Donald TrumpSteven Hirsch/Pool via REUTERS
Judge agrees to delay Trump sentencing in hush money trial
Following request from Trump’s lawyers, New York judge rules the former President will not be sentenced on his business fraud conviction until September.
A New York judge ruled on Tuesday that former US President Donald Trump will not be sentenced on his business fraud conviction until September, CNN reported.
Trump was scheduled to be sentenced on July 11 in the “hush money” trial. However, Judge Juan Merchan said on Tuesday that the former President will now be sentenced on September 18, “if such is still necessary.”
Trump was found guilty in May of falsifying business records in the hush money trial being held in New York.
The 12-person jury found Trump guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment to adult film actor Stormy Daniels near the end of the 2016 presidential campaign.
The judge’s ruling came a day after Trump’s lawyers asked him to set aside his conviction and delay his sentencing.
The letter to Merchan cited the US Supreme Court’s ruling from earlier Monday and asked the judge to delay Trump’s sentencing while he weighs the high court’s decision and how it could influence the New York case.
Trump’s lawyers argue that the Supreme Court’s decision confirmed a position the defense raised earlier in the case that prosecutors should have been precluded from introducing some evidence they said constituted official presidential acts, according to the letter.
The Supreme Court had ruled for the first time that former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution, extending the delay in the Washington criminal case against Trump on charges he plotted to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office on Tuesday agreed the sentencing should be delayed.
“Although we believe the 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. We respectfully request a deadline of July 24, 2024—two weeks after defendant’s requested deadline—to file and serve a response,” the DA said in a letter Tuesday, according to CNN.
