Prosecutors are urging a judge not to throw out the criminal conviction against President-elect Donald Trump over accusations that he paid to suppress unfavorable news, suggesting that the case can be ended in a way that preserves the verdict while avoiding punishment or a prolonged legal fight.
In court documents made public Tuesday, the Manhattan district attorney’s office proposed a number of options to keep the historic conviction on the record, including asking Judge Juan M. Merchan to consider treating the case as he would when a defendant dies.
This would effectively put the case in a permanent state of suspended animation. Trump’s conviction would stand, but everything would be frozen, including any appeal. It’s unclear whether that option is viable under New York law.
“Applied here, this Court could equally terminate the criminal proceedings by placing a notation in the record that the jury’s verdict eliminated the presumption of innocence; that the accused was never sentenced; and that his conviction was neither affirmed nor overturned on appeal due to presidential immunity,” prosecutors wrote in an 82-page document.
Among the other options prosecutors proposed was delaying sentencing until after Trump leaves office in 2029. However, they insisted the sentence should stand, arguing that Trump’s imminent return to the White House should not override the plea. of a jury.
The document expands on the position that prosecutors laid out last month. Trump’s lawyers have since pressured Merchan to dismiss the case entirely in light of his election.
Trump’s team argues that allowing the case to continue would present unconstitutional “interruptions” to his next presidential term.
The lawyers also cited the recent iPresident Joe Biden’s pardon for his son Hunter Bidenwho had been convicted on tax and weapons charges. Biden complained that his son was unfairly prosecuted for political reasons, and Trump’s lawyers say the same is true for him.
It’s unclear how soon Merchan can decide what to do next with the case. Trump, a Republican, takes office on January 20.
He was to be sentenced at the end of last month. But after Trump’s election victory on Nov. 5, Merchan halted proceedings and indefinitely postponed sentencing so the defense and prosecution could weigh in on the future of the case.
Merchan also delayed a decision on Trump’s earlier request to dismiss the case on immunity grounds.
Trump has been fighting for months to reverse his conviction on 34 charges falsification of business records. Prosecutors said he manipulated documents to hide a $130,000 payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels to suppress her claim that they had sex a decade earlier.
Trump denies any wrongdoing, portraying the case as a political attack orchestrated by District Attorney Alvin Bragg and other Democrats.
A dismissal would erase Trump’s historic conviction, freeing him from the cloud of a criminal record and a possible prison sentence. Trump is the first former president to be convicted of a crime and the first convicted criminal to be elected to office.
Merchan could also decide to uphold the verdict and proceed to sentencing, delay the case until Trump leaves office, wait until a federal appeals court rules on Trump’s parallel effort to move the case out of the state level, or choose some other option. option.
The hush money case was the only one of Trump’s four criminal trials to go to trial.
Since the election, special counsel Jack Smith has concluded his two federal cases, which concerned Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss and allegations that he illegally retained classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
A separate state election interference case in Fulton County, Georgia, is largely on hold. Trump denies wrongdoing in all of them.
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