The Manhattan judge who oversaw Donald Trump’s criminal trial in the “silent money” case is expected to announce next week whether the president-elect’s historic conviction for a crime still stands.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan had already postponed sentencing for more than four months after the election, giving himself until next Tuesday to decide whether the conviction should be overturned.
Donald Trump sits at the defendant’s table inside Manhattan Criminal Court during jury deliberations on May 29, 2024. Getty Images
Paula Reed, CNN’s chief legal affairs correspondent, noted on Wednesday evening that Trump’s landslide election victory would encourage his legal team to “make sure we never pass judgment.”
“Here, they will argue to the judge that the ruling should never have happened because Trump is now president-elect,” Reed noted.
“They will say he is entitled to the same constitutional protections as a sitting president and should be protected from state actors and, in this case, from prosecutors.”
Trump, 78, faces up to four years in prison after being convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up payments to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election.
Judge Juan Merchan is considering overturning Donald Trump’s felony convictions following Tuesday’s election results. AP President-elect Donald Trump speaks to supporters alongside his wife Melania at the Palm Beach County Convention Center on November 6, 2024. AP
Legal experts have already predicted that Trump will not have a hard time.
Former prosecutor Nima Rahmani said: “Mershan does not have the courage to imprison a former president or an elected president.”
“Now that Trump has won, his criminal problems are gone.”
