Judge denies Trump’s plea to defer hush money conviction sentencing

FILE: Donald Trump speaking with supporters at a campaign rally at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona in 2016. (Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0)

By Anadolu, Philippine News Agency

HOUSTON, United States – US President-elect Donald Trump’s request to postpone sentencing in his hush money conviction in New York was denied by Judge Juan Merchan on Monday, according to media reports.

Trump was found guilty last May of 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up USD130,000 in hush money payments made by his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, to adult film star Stormy Daniels to keep her story of an alleged affair with Trump from being released to the media during the 2016 presidential election. Trump has denied the allegations.

Sentencing is scheduled for Friday but Trump’s attorneys are expected to file an appeal.

“The Court should vacate the sentencing hearing scheduled for Jan. 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 legal team said in their appeals filing.

“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,” the filing continued.

The court ruling comes as Trump was certified as the winner of the 2024 presidential election Monday, four years to the day in which he tried to overturn his 2020 election loss and his supporters stormed the US Capitol in a deadly riot.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office urged the judge to deny any further postponement of Trump’s sentencing.

“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 said in their filing.

“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 continued.

Trump was initially set to be sentenced last July but that court hearing was delayed until after the 2024 presidential election due to the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity.

However, Merchan rejected Trump’s motion to dismiss the case based on presidential immunity and the legal battle is expected to continue through Friday and possibly beyond as Trump’s legal team moves forward with further appeals.