NEW YORK: Donald Trump may seek dismissal of the criminal case in which he was convicted in May of 34 felony counts involving hush money paid to an adult film actress, a judge ruled on Friday, while also indefinitely delaying Trump’s sentencing in light of his victory in the November 5 US presidential election.
The sentencing had been scheduled to take place next Tuesday.
Prosecutors with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office this week asked New York state Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan to consider deferring all proceedings in the case until after Trump, 78, finishes his four-year presidential term that begins on January 20, 2025.
Lawyers for Trump, a Republican, have argued that the case must be dismissed because having it loom over him while he is president would cause “unconstitutional impediments” to his ability to govern.
Bragg’s office said it would argue against dismissal, but agreed that Trump deserves time to make his case through written motions.
Merchan on Friday set a December 2 deadline for Trump to file his motion to dismiss and gave prosecutors until December 9 to respond. The judge did not set a new date for sentencing or indicate how long proceedings would remain on hold. The judge also did not indicate when he would rule on Trump’s motion to dismiss.
The case stemmed from a $130,000 payment Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen made to an adult film actress for her silence before the 2016 election about a sexual encounter she has said she had a decade earlier with Trump, who denies it.
A Manhattan jury found Trump guilty of falsifying business records to cover up his reimbursement of Cohen. It was the first time a US president — former or sitting — had been convicted of or charged with a criminal offence.
Trump pleaded not guilty in the case, which he has sought to portray as a politically motivated attempt by Bragg, a Democrat, to interfere with his presidential campaign.
“The American People have issued a mandate to return him to office and dispose of all remnants of the Witch Hunt cases,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement.
A spokesperson for Bragg’s office declined to comment.
Falsification of business records is punishable by up to four years in prison. Before he was elected, experts said it was unlikely — but not impossible — that Trump would face time behind bars, with punishments such as a fine or probation seen as more likely.
Trump’s victory over Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in the Nov 5 election made the prospect of imposing a sentence of jail or probation even more politically fraught and impractical, given that a sentence could have impeded his ability to conduct the duties of the presidency.
He was charged in three additional state and federal cases in 2023, one involving classified documents he kept after leaving office and two others involving his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss. He pleaded not guilty in all three cases.
A Florida-based federal judge in July dismissed the documents case. The Justice Department is now evaluating how to wind down the federal election-related case. Trump also faces state criminal charges in Georgia over his bid to reverse his 2020 loss in that state, but that case remains in limbo.
As president, Trump would have no power to shut down the New York or Georgia cases because they were filed in state courts. His Justice Department may close the federal cases.
Trump last week nominated his defence lawyers in the hush money case, Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, to serve senior roles at the Justice Department during his administration.
