New York judge Juan Merchan postponed his anticipated Tuesday decision on whether to uphold or dismiss president-elect Donald Trump’s hush-money conviction because of the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity.
The judge was set to decide on whether to toss his conviction, given Trump’s presidential immunity. But now that the Republican retook the White House last week, the judge opted to give prosecutors time to take Trump’s impending return to the presidency into account for determining his sentence.
Merchan said he would delay his decision until next Tuesday, November 19. The judge granted the prosecution’s request to delay the hearing. Trump was due to be sentenced on November 26.
Manhattan prosecutor Mathew Colangelo asked Merchan to consider the impact that Trump’s reelection has on the post-trial motion, according to emails filed in court. Trump lawyer Emil Bove agreed with the prosecution’s request for pausing the deadlines, arguing there are “strong reasons for the requested stay, and eventual dismissal of the case in the interests of justice.”
Bove cited the Supreme Court’s July decision that granted Trump presidential immunity from criminal prosecution for his official acts while in office. The hush-money case concerns Trump’s status as a former president, not an incoming one.
“The stay, and dismissal, are necessary to avoid unconstitutional impediments to President Trump’s ability to govern,” the defense attorney wrote.
In May, Trump was convicted for falsifying business records related to a $130,000 hush-money payment he gave porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016. Daniels claimed she slept with Trump in 2006 that resulted in the payment to buy her silence. The alleged affair took place four months after Trump’s son, Barron, was born.
About a month later after Trump was found guilty, the Supreme Court held that former presidents have absolute immunity for official acts as president. Trump argued certain evidence that prosecutors presented to the jury during the seven-week trial was protected by the Court’s landmark ruling. As a result, his attorneys said the verdict should be removed. The state disagrees with that argument.
It remains to be seen what happens to the hush-money case next week. Trump’s other criminal cases are meeting a similar fate.
Last week, Washington, D.C., judge Tanya Chutkan granted special counsel Jack Smith’s request to suspend all deadlines in the federal election-interference case related to the January 6 Capitol riot in 2021. She ordered that Smith provide an update on next steps in that case by December 2.
Meanwhile, the two remaining criminal cases are not progressing. Trump’s classified documents case was dismissed in July by a Florida judge he appointed during his first term. His Georgia election-interference case remains indefinitely paused while an appeals court weighs a legal challenge from Trump and his co-defendants about Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis’s role in the case.