Judge Rejects Donald Trump’s Effort To Halt Sentencing In New York Hush Money Case — Update

Ted Johnson
·2-min read

UPDATE: A New York judge rejected Donald Trump’s effort to stop his sentencing this week for his criminal conviction in the hush money case.

Earlier today, Trump’s legal team claimed that the proceedings were “automatically stayed” as they pursued an appeal in the case.

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Judge Juan Merchan, though, wrote that Trump claims were “a repetition of arguments he has raised numerous times in the past.”

Last week, Merchan scheduled Trump’s sentencing for Friday, ten days before the inauguration.

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Trump was convicted last year of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records stemming from hush money payments made to Stormy Daniels in advance of the 2016 election. Trump has denied the claims, but Merchan has rejected his arguments to dismiss the conviction.

PREVIOUSLY: Donald Trump is seeking to sideline Friday’s planned sentencing following his conviction in the New York hush money trial last year.

In a ruling last week, Judge Juan Merchan ordered Trump to be sentenced, while rejecting his efforts to dismiss the conviction.

Merchan indicated that the president-elect would not be sentenced to jail time, but was unpersuaded by Trump’s legal team’s claims that he has presidential immunity.

In their latest filing, Trump’s attorneys argued that due “to the fact that further criminal proceedings are automatically stayed by operation of federal constitutional law, the Court will lack authority to proceed with sentencing, must therefore immediately vacate the sentencing hearing scheduled for January 10, 2025, and suspend all proceedings in the case until the conclusion of President Trump’s appeal on Presidential immunity.”

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His attorneys argued that Trump’s appeal triggered an “automatic stay” of the proceedings, but are still seeking the court’s determination that the sentencing is on hold. Trump’s legal team also said that they would seek an emergency stay with the appellate court if Merchan did not put on a hold on the sentencing proceedings.

Merchan ordered Trump to appear at the sentencing, but left open the option of virtual attendance. Trump is scheduled to attend funeral services for former President Jimmy Carter on Thursday.

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