Judge to decide on Friday whether Trump's verdict in hush money case will be postponed

The New York judge presiding over former President Donald Trump's hush money case will decide Friday whether to delay sentencing, according to a court filing Thursday.

Trump is scheduled to be sentenced on September 18 after being found guilty in May on 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with paying hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels to boost his prospects in the 2016 presidential election. He faces up to four years in prison.

Trump had asked the judge in charge, Juan Merchan, to postpone the verdict until after the election. Merchan said on Thursday that he would make the decision on Friday.

MORE: After a long delay, the proceedings in the Trump election interference case are to be resumed

Prosecutors announced the timing of the judge's decision in a letter to a federal appeals court that is currently considering intervening in the case.

“The judge has now informed the parties that the decision will be announced tomorrow, September 6, 2024,” the letter states.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein denied Trump's request to move his criminal case to federal court. The next day, in a 28-page brief, Trump's lawyers asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to stay Judge Hellerstein's order – a move that would delay Trump's criminal trial, including his sentencing.

“Without the requested stay, President Trump and the American people will suffer irreparable harm,” wrote defense attorneys Emil Bove and Todd Blanche.

In a brief filed Thursday, the Manhattan district attorney's office asked the court to dismiss Trump's motion on the grounds that there was no reason for the appeals court to intervene.

“For one thing, the district court is already considering the defendant's motion to delay decision on his motion for a post-trial stay and sentencing until after the election,” said Steven Wu, appellate director for the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, in a letter to the court.

Trump's lawyers argued in their appeal that the former president's case belongs in federal court because the allegations and evidence in the case relate to Trump's actions as president – an argument that defense lawyers say is supported by the Supreme Court's recent ruling on presidential immunity.

In their complaint, Trump's lawyers stressed that allowing the verdict to proceed would cause “irreparable harm,” which could lead to “the unconstitutional imprisonment of Trump as the 2024 presidential election looms.”

“Unlawfully detaining President Trump in the final weeks of the presidential election while early voting is still underway would irreparably harm the First Amendment rights of President Trump and voters far beyond New York County,” the defense attorneys wrote.

Also on Friday, a panel of judges from the same federal appeals court is scheduled to decide Trump's appeal of a 2023 civil judgment that found him liable for the sexual abuse of magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll and awarded her $5 million in damages.

Judge to decide Friday whether to delay Trump's sentence in hush money case. Originally published on abcnews.go.com