Judge postpones Trump's verdict until after the election

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CNN
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Former President Donald Trump will not be sentenced in his New York criminal trial until after the 2024 election, Judge Juan Merchan announced on Friday.

Merchan wrote in a new letter that he would convict Trump on November 26 if necessary, responding to a request from Trump's lawyers to postpone the verdict.

Trump was found guilty in May on 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up paying hush money to a porn star who claimed an affair with the former president. But Trump's sentence was stayed for months after Trump's lawyers pushed to overturn the conviction because of the Supreme Court's ruling on presidential immunity.

Merchan cited the upcoming presidential election as the reason for his decision to delay sentencing. One of his reasons for doing so was to avoid the appearance that the sentencing was intended to influence the November elections.

“A delay of the motion and sentencing decision, if necessary, should remove any suspicion that the court may have made a decision or imposed a sentence to advantage or disadvantage any political party or candidate for office,” Merchan wrote.

Merchan wrote not only that he would postpone the sentencing until November 26, but also that he would rule on Trump's request to overturn the conviction based on the Supreme Court's immunity decision on November 12, also after the election. Merchan wrote in his letter that the Supreme Court had made “a historic and timely decision” with its immunity decision.

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung responded to the decision by saying, “There should be no conviction in the Manhattan District Attorney's witch hunt for election interference.”

“As ordered by the Supreme Court of the United States, this case should be dismissed along with all other Harris-Biden hoaxes,” Cheung said.

The decision to delay sentencing until after the November 5 election is another delay that has been enshrined in all criminal cases against Trump since he was indicted four times – in New York, Florida, Washington, DC and Georgia – in 2023. The Florida case involving the classified documents was dismissed by the judge in July – although the special counsel has appealed that decision – while the other two cases related to January 6 are pending and will not be pursued before the election.

The only prosecution to go to trial this year was the New York hush money trial, which ended in a guilty verdict in May. Now the verdict in that trial – with the question of whether a prison sentence will be imposed – will not come until after the election, if it takes place at all.

Merchan took into account the historic nature of the Trump hush money trial in his decision to delay sentencing against the former president until after the election.

“This case stands uniquely, at a unique place in the history of this nation, and this Court has handled it since its inception – from the indictment to the jury verdict and a multitude of motions and other matters in between. Should this Court, after careful consideration of the Supreme Court's decision in Trumpthat this case should proceed, he faces one of the most critical and difficult decisions a judge must make in a trial court – convicting a defendant who has been found guilty by a unanimous jury of his colleagues,” Merchan wrote.

“The members of this jury have worked diligently in this case, and their verdict must be respected and treated in a manner that is not diluted by the tremendous importance of the upcoming presidential election,” he continued. “Similarly, if one is necessary, the defendant is entitled to a criminal trial that respects and protects his constitutional rights.”

This is the second time Merchan has delayed sentencing in the case. Merchan had delayed his original sentencing in July for two months after Trump's lawyers asked Merchan to vacate the guilty verdict in light of the Supreme Court's ruling on presidential immunity.

Last week, Trump attempted to take the case to federal court, citing the Supreme Court's summer ruling on presidential immunity. But a federal judge denied the request the same day without considering further arguments from Trump or the Manhattan district attorney. Trump's lawyers are appealing the ruling.

After filing that petition, Trump's legal team also asked Merchan to hold the litigation in federal court and not to make a decision on the president's immunity. Merchan referred to attempts to move the case to federal court in his letter on Friday.

Trump's lawyers argued that the charges should be dropped or at least the verdict overturned. The Supreme Court's ruling on presidential immunity meant that certain evidence from the trial should not have been presented to the jury. These included the testimony of former White House staffer Hope Hicks and tweets that Trump sent during his time in office.

Prosecutors responded that the verdict must stand and that the evidence presented at trial was “overwhelming.”

Merchan had stated that he would decide on the immunity issue on September 16. He had planned to convict Trump two days later if necessary.

But Trump's lawyers asked Merchan to postpone the date until after the election. They argued, among other things, that this would not give them enough time to appeal the judge's decision. The prosecutors responded that they would follow Merchan's instructions when scheduling the event.

The delay means that Trump's criminal conviction – which dominated both Trump's term in office and the news in the spring – will not return to the forefront in the final weeks of the presidential campaign. It could also mean that the election will have no bearing on any sentence Merchan might impose.

Trump could be sentenced to up to four years in prison, but Merchan is not required to sentence Trump to prison and could opt for a lesser sentence, such as probation, house arrest, community service or a fine.

This story is brand new and will be updated.

CNN's Paula Reid contributed to this report.