WASHINGTON – Former President Donald Trump will not face criminal sentencing in New York for his felony convictions ahead of the November election, according to a ruling released Friday by New York Judge Juan Merchan.
The New York judge said on Friday that the fresh date for sentencing would be November 26, according to a letter he announced on Friday.
Merchan wrote that the court is “currently faced with a situation fraught with complexities,” referring to the fast-approaching presidential election and the resulting U.S. Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity, which Trump’s legal team has now placed at the center of the New York case.
“A postponement of the motion and sentencing determination, if necessary, should remove any suspicion that the court may have made a decision or imposed a sentence to advantage or disadvantage a political party and/or candidate for office,” Merchan wrote.
“The Court did not make this decision lightly, but it is the decision that the Court believes best advances the interests of justice,” Merchan later concluded.
Trump, who is once again fighting for the Oval Office as the Republican candidate, is the first former president ever to have a criminal record.
He was sentenced was charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in May following a week-long trial in Manhattan involving hush money payments to a porn star in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election.
Trump asked The New York court asked him to delay sentencing until after the 2024 election, arguing that the issue of presidential immunity in connection with the New York conviction remained unresolved.
Friday’s decision marks the second time Merchan has delayed sentencing against Trump.
Dealer delayed Trump’s first conviction in July Datejust one day after the US Supreme Court governed that former presidents enjoy criminal immunity for official “core constitutional acts” and at least presumptive immunity for “outer perimeter” activities, but not for personal ones.
Trump’s lawyers argues the Supreme Court’s decision on presidential immunity overturned his convictions in New York State, particularly because evidence presented at trial could now be subject to immunity.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg agreed to a delay while the parties presented legal arguments on the issue of immunity, which Bragg eventually argues had “no influence” on Trump’s convictions and the evidence considered by the jury.
Trump, who is embroiled on several legal fronts, escalated his separate criminal case in federal court accusing him of election interference in 2020 all the way to the Supreme Court, arguing presidential immunity for all criminal charges stemming from his time in office.
The case accusing Trump of attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election has been sent back to federal court. US District Judge Tanya Chutkan on Thursday released a pretrial calendar that extends beyond the November elections.
