CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig on Thursday explained why former President Donald Trump’s New York sentencing may not occur until long after the November election.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg recently took no stance on Trump’s request to postpone his Sept. 18 sentencing date past the November election. Honig said on “CNN News Central” that Judge Juan Merchan could either dismiss Trump’s conviction or uphold it while allowing the former president to appeal before sentencing, thereby delaying the sentencing significantly. (RELATED: ‘Political Judiciary’: Kamala Harris’ Antics During Nomination Hearings Indicate ‘Radical’ Judges She Would Nominate)
WATCH:
CNN’s Elie Honig Breaks Down Why Trump’s Sentencing Date Could ‘Be Way Past The Election’ pic.twitter.com/S3PdJDwX8W
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) August 29, 2024
“Trump made a motion to throw out that hush money conviction based on the same immunity case. He said, ‘Some of the evidence the prosecutors use against me had to do with my time in the White House. That should not have been used against me. Therefore, Judge Merchan, throw out the conviction.’ That is pending,” Honig said. “He has not decided yet, but Trump has said, ‘if you reject that, if you keep the conviction in place, I get to appeal before sentencing.'”
“So it’s up to the judge. He may well decide that ‘I’m going to let Trump appeal before sentencing,’ which would mean the sentencing would be way past the election,” he added. “Or option B for Judge Merchan is he could say, ‘No, I’m going to keep sentencing on for September 18,’ but that date now is very much in question as to whether we actually will see a sentence.
A Manhattan jury in May convicted Trump on 34 counts of falsifying business records pertaining to reimbursing his former attorney Michael Cohen for a nondisclosure agreement with porn star Stormy Daniels.
Trump’s attorneys in July motioned to toss the jury verdict based on the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling finding that presidents possess immunity from criminal prosecution for “official acts” taken in office. The former president’s sentencing was originally set for July 11, but Merchan agreed to push back the date after the presidential immunity ruling and the judge plans to rule on Trump’s motion Sept. 16.
Special counsel Jack Smith on Tuesday filed a superseding indictment against Trump in his election interference case. The new indictment contains the same four conspiracy and obstruction charges as the initial indictment, which Smith submitted in light of the presidential immunity ruling.
Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, in July tossed Smith’s classified documents case against Trump. Cannon agreed with the former president’s defense’s assertion that the special counsel was not legally appointed, as mandated in the appointments clause of the Constitution.
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