Donald Trump’s lawyers immediately sought to take advantage of the Supreme Court’s ruling granting him immunity, asking a New York judge to delay sentencing in his trial over the silence of his supporters.
His lawyer sent a letter on Monday asking to have his conviction set aside and his sentencing, scheduled for next week, delayed.
The letter to Judge Juan M. Merchan cited the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on Monday and asked the judge to delay sentencing Trump while he evaluates the high court’s decision and how it might influence the New York case.
The lawyers argue that the Supreme Court’s decision upheld a position the defense previously raised in the case that prosecutors should have been prevented from introducing some evidence they argued constituted official presidential acts, according to the letter.
In previous court filings, Trump has maintained that he is immune from prosecution for conduct allegedly involving official acts while in office.
Donald Trump’s lawyers immediately sought to take advantage of the Supreme Court’s ruling granting him immunity by asking a New York judge to delay sentencing in his hush money lawsuit.
His lawyer sent a letter on Monday asking to have his conviction set aside and his sentencing, scheduled for next week, delayed.
His lawyers did not raise that as a defense in the hush money case, but argued that some evidence, including Trump’s social media posts about former attorney Michael Cohen, came from his time as president and should have been excluded from the trial because of immunity protections.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office declined to comment Monday night.
The Supreme Court ruled for the first time on Monday that former presidents enjoy broad immunity from prosecution.
This extended the delay in Washington’s criminal case against Trump on charges that… conspired to reverse his defeat in the 2020 presidential election.
Trump was found guilty in New York on 34 counts of falsifying business records, stemming from what prosecutors said was an attempt to cover up a hush money payment to his supporters just before the 2016 presidential election. He is scheduled to be sentenced in the hush money case on July 11.
Merchan instituted a pre-trial policy requiring both sides to send him a one-page letter summarizing their arguments before filing longer court submissions.
He said he did this to better manage the case and not be inundated with voluminous documents.
In rejecting Trump’s attempt to move the trial from New York state court to federal court last year, A federal judge found that the allegations at the heart of the case concerned Trump’s personal life.
Trump was convicted in New York on 34 counts of falsifying business records, stemming from what prosecutors said was an attempt to cover up a hush money payment to his supporters just before the 2016 presidential election. He is scheduled to be sentenced in the hush money case on July 11.
The judge said they “do not in any way reflect the nature of the President’s official duties.”
“The evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the matter was a purely personal matter for the President: a cover-up of an embarrassing event,” U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein wrote in the ruling.