Former President Donald Trump arrives at Manhattan Criminal Court on Thursday, May 30, 2024, in New York City.
Seth Little | via Reuters
A New York appeals court judge on Tuesday denied President-elect Donald Trump’s request to delay Friday’s criminal sentencing for his conviction in hush-money payments to porn stars before the 2016 election.
Judge Ellen Gesmer’s denial came shortly after a hearing on Trump’s request and a day after Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, who is presiding over Trump’s trial, declined Sentencing was postponed.
Trump’s lawyers have argued that he has the right to stay the case because of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year that the president enjoys presumptive criminal immunity for official actions while in office.
President-elect Donald Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche leaves the New York State Appellate Division of the U.S. Supreme Court on January 7, 2025 in New York City.
Adam Gray | Reuters
The lawyers also claim that if Trump is sentenced 10 days before he is sworn in for a second term, he will suffer irreparable harm and violate his constitutional rights.
Geismer expressed doubts about those claims during the hearing.
She noted that Merchant has said he is unlikely to jail Trump. Merchant also said he was leaning toward not ordering Trump to serve any probation or pay any fines in the case.
“After consideration of the submitted documents and extensive oral argument, Morvant’s request for a temporary stay is denied,” Geismer wrote in the ruling.
Trump was convicted last year of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records over a $130,000 payment from then-attorney Michael Cohen to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
Cohen paid Daniels in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election in exchange for keeping silent about an alleged one-time tryst with Trump in 2006.
Trump denies having sex with Daniels.
About The Author
