Judge denies Trump’s plea to delay Friday’s sentencing on his hush money conviction

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - NEW YORK — Judge Juan Merchan has denied Donald Trump’s request to postpone his Friday sentencing for his hush money conviction, the judge said in a filing Monday.

Trump’s lawyers are likely to appeal Merchan’s decision to a New York appeals court.

Earlier Monday, Trump’s lawyers filed an appeal urging a New York appellate court to overturn Merchan’s two recent rulings that upheld his conviction in the hush money case, while separately urging the judge to postpone Trump’s sentencing while he appeals.

Trump’s legal maneuvers come on the same day that he was certified as the winner of the 2024 presidential election – and four years since he tried to overturn his election loss and his supporters rioted at the US Capitol.

Last week, Merchan rejected Trump’s attempt to throw out his conviction because he’s been elected president, scheduling Trump’s sentencing in the hush money case for Friday – though Merchan made clear he would not sentence him to any jail time.

Trump’s lawyers argued that the sentencing must be put on hold while his appeals play out.

“The Court should vacate the sentencing hearing scheduled for January 10, 2025, and suspend all further deadlines in the case until President Trump’s immunity appeals are fully and finally resolved, which should result in a dismissal of this case, which should have never been brought in the first place,” Trump’s filing states.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office urged Merchan to deny Trump’s request to postpone his sentencing, according to a filing sent to the judge.

“Defendant will suffer no prejudice from the conclusion of criminal proceedings in the trial court given the Court’s intended sentence of an unconditional discharge and defendant’s decision to appear for sentencing virtually instead of in person—indeed, entry of judgment is necessary to allow the appeal defendant has repeatedly stated he will pursue,” prosecutors wrote in the filing.

“And the current schedule is entirely a function of defendant’s repeated requests to adjourn a sentencing date that was originally set for July 11, 2024; he should not now be heard to complain of harm from delays he caused,” prosecutors added.

On Monday afternoon, Trump’s attorneys filed an appeal with a New York appellate court seeking to overturn Merchan’s rulings that upheld Trump’s conviction. Trump’s lawyers did not ask the appeals court to intervene in the sentencing – though they could take that step if Merchan moves forward with his plans to sentence Trump Friday.

“Justice Merchan’s erroneous decisions threaten the institution of the Presidency and run squarely against established precedent disallowing any criminal process against a President-Elect, as well as prohibiting the use of evidence of a President’s official acts against him in a criminal proceeding,” Trump’s attorneys wrote in the filing with the appeals court Monday.

Trump was convicted in May on 34 counts of falsifying business records over payments to his then-lawyer Michael Cohen to reimburse a $130,000 hush money payment made to adult-film star Stormy Daniels, in order to keep her from speaking out about an alleged affair before the 2016 election. (Trump has denied the affair.)

Trump was initially set to be sentenced in the case in July, but that was delayed until after the election in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity. Last month, however, Merchan rejected Trump’s attempt to dismiss the case on the basis of presidential immunity. — CNN