Update: District Attorney Alvin Bragg wants to proceed with the trial:
The prosecution says it intends to OPPOSE Trump's new motion to dismiss his convictions based on immunity.
— Anna Bower (@AnnaBower) November 19, 2024
But Bragg's team says that further proceedings--including Trump's sentencing--should be adjourned to permit litigation of Trump's new motion.
Trump Communications Director Steven Cheung issued a statement as well:
This is a total and definitive victory for President Trump and the American People who elected him in a landslide. The Manhattan DA has conceded that this Witch Hunt cannot continue. The lawless case is now stayed, and President Trump’s legal team is moving to get it dismissed once and for all.
We're awaiting word from Judge Juan Merchan.
Original Article:
Donald Trump’s sentencing for 34 criminal charges in the so-called "hush money" case in New York has been put on hold indefinitely as the court reconsiders its next steps.
"The delayed sentencing came on the same day that District Attorney Alvin Bragg was slated to file a recommendation to Judge Juan Merchan on how to proceed," reports Fox News.
Trump was convicted in May by a Manhattan jury on 34 counts of falsifying business records, stemming from a case about payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels, which could have landed him a maximum sentence of up to four years in prison.
But the presidential race — and Trump’s victory — had thrown the timeline for court proceedings into a fog of uncertainty.
The presiding judge in the New York case, Judge Juan Merchan, granted a request from prosecutors earlier this month to stay all deadlines associated with the New York case, including a planned sentencing date of Nov. 26, in wake of Trump's election victory.
"The People agree that these are unprecedented circumstances," prosecutor Matthew Colangelo said in their request, which he added would allow for prosecutors to better evaluate the impact of his election as president.
Trump's attorneys, who have pushed to vacate the charges against him completely, also backed the stay.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in July that presidents should enjoy presumptive immunity from criminal prosecution for most actions taken as president, further complicating the path forward in the New York case.
The Supreme Court ruled that presidents have immunity for actions within their core constitutional powers as commander-in-chief and a presumption of immunity for other actions while in office. However, it remains unclear if this protection extends to state convictions as the issue has never been tested in court. Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg maintains that his case against Trump centers on personal conduct, not presidential actions. Trump has dismissed the charges as a politically driven “witch hunt,” a claim he often uses to counter critics and legal challenges.
The report notes that "Even if Trump’s convictions were to be upheld, the president-elect has myriad ways to appeal the case or get the charges against him dismissed before the Nov. 26 sentencing hearing — making it all but certain he will face no time behind bars."
Fox News legal analysts Andy McCarthy and Jonathan Turley had previously predicted that Merchan would delay the ruling rather than drop the case.
“I think they’re going to delay, I’d be surprised if at this point, [Manhattan District Attorney Alvin] Bragg dismissed the case … I think the difference here compared to some of the other cases is that Bragg feels like he didn’t lose, he feels like he won the case at trial,” McCarthy said. “So it would be difficult for him to swallow hard and dismiss it at this point. But he still hasn’t completely won because important things haven’t happened here yet, there hasn’t been a sentencing, there hasn’t been a judgment or sentencing, and he doesn’t have a clear path to get there because even if Judge Merchan rules his way on immunity, you’re looking at a long appeal.”
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“The federal cases are shutting down, Georgia’s going nowhere, and yet you have Judge Merchan here and many people feel he’s continuing this long after the attractions were put back in their cases and their audience has left,” Turley agreed. “And so, there would be a great sigh of relief. I just don’t expect it. I think that the judge will view this as a verdict by this jury that’s he’s not just gonna set aside. I don’t think that holding this in abeyance for four years is a good option. You cannot have a president who [has a] pending sentencing for four years in my view.”
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