A New York judge delay a sentencing of former President Donald Trump on charges related to paying hush money to a porn star will be delayed until after the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 5.
Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, was due to announce his verdict on September 18, less than two months before the election. However, he asked Judge Juan Merchán to postpone the date until after the election.
Merchán said Friday that his intention now is to hand down a sentence on November 26, unless the case is dismissed earlier.
“This matter is unique in the history of this nation,” Merchán wrote. “Unfortunately, we are now in a moment fraught with complexities that make the requirements for a sentencing hearing, should one be necessary, difficult to execute.”
Trump’s lawyers argued in August that there would not be enough time before sentencing for the defense to potentially appeal a looming ruling on the request to overturn the conviction over the Supreme Court’s landmark decision on presidential immunity.
The judge had been scheduled to rule on that motion on Sept. 16, but on Friday indicated he now plans to do so on Nov. 12.
The 6-3 Supreme Court ruling, related to a separate criminal case facing Trump, said presidents cannot be criminally prosecuted for their official acts and that evidence of presidents’ official actions cannot be used in criminal cases involving unofficial acts.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s team argues that the case involves Trump’s personal conduct, not official acts, so there is no reason to overturn the verdict. They did not, however, take a position on Trump’s request to delay sentencing and said in August that they would leave the decision on the matter to Merchán.
Prosecutors said an appeals court could delay sentencing anyway to give itself time to consider Trump’s arguments, a move they said would be “disruptive.”
Bragg’s team also said Trump’s court appearances required significant logistical and security planning and that there was a risk that preparations for his sentencing could be made and then canceled. Trump’s six-week trial brought with it a heavy police presence in lower Manhattan.
In the first criminal trial of a current or former U.S. president, Trump was convicted on May 30 of falsifying business records to cover up a $130,000 payment his then-lawyer made to adult film actress “Stormy” Daniels in exchange for her silence before the 2016 election over a sexual encounter she says she had with Trump a decade earlier.
Trump denies the encounter and has vowed to appeal the verdict once he is sentenced.
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