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juan merchan
Judge Delays Trump Sentencing in Hush Money Case Until After 2024 Election
One analyst argued the decision was "wrong," writing that "if no one is above the law, then Trump shouldn't be either."
Sep 06, 2024
The New York judge overseeing the criminal case stemming from hush money payments that Donald Trump made to porn star Stormy Daniels opted Friday to postpone the Republican nominee's sentencing until after the 2024 election, granting the former president's request for a delay.
New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan wrote Friday that "this is not a decision this court makes lightly but it is the decision which in this court's view, best advances the interests of justice."
Trump was originally scheduled to be sentenced in July for 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, but Merchan noted that the U.S. Supreme Court's sweeping presidential immunity decision provided Trump's legal team an opening to delay the process further.
Prior to Merchan's order Friday, Trump's sentencing hearing was set for September 18.
As The New York Timesreported, "it is unclear whether sentencing Mr. Trump" in the weeks ahead of the November 5 election "would have helped or harmed him politically; his punishment could have been an embarrassing reminder of his criminal record, but could have also propelled his claims of political martyrdom."
"The jury did its job and, after reviewing a mountain of evidence that resulted in his conviction on 34 felony counts, it's well past time for Donald Trump to be held accountable."
Norman Eisen, co-founder and board member of State Democracy Defenders Action, argued in an op-ed for MSNBC last month that Trump's sentencing should not be delayed, writing that "Trump should be denied the special treatment he seeks to delay his sentence simply because he is a presidential candidate."
"To avoid undermining public faith in the rule of law and fairness of the criminal justice system," Eisen wrote, "Trump's sentencing should go ahead as scheduled."
Eisen wrote on social media Friday that Merchan's decision to postpone Trump's sentencing was "wrong."
"Trump has already benefited from extraordinary special treatment," he added. "If no one is above the law, then Trump shouldn't be either."
Merchan wrote in his decision Friday that "this matter is one that stands alone, in a unique place in this nation's history," and experts are uncertain what would happen under various possible scenarios—including if Trump wins the 2024 election and is subsequently sentenced to prison.
One certainty, according to the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, is that "even if Trump is elected to a second term, he would not be able to pardon himself for these crimes because he was convicted on New York state charges."
Lisa Gilbert and Brett Edkins, co-chairs of the Not Above the Law Coalition, said in a statement Friday that "today's latest delay prevents justice from being served."
"At every step along the way, Trump and his legal team did everything they could to delay accountability in this case and undermine our legal system—even stooping so low as to intimidate witnesses, publicly criticize jurors, and defy orders from the judge," they continued. "The jury did its job and, after reviewing a mountain of evidence that resulted in his conviction on 34 felony counts, it's well past time for Donald Trump to be held accountable."
This story has been updated to include a statement from the Not Above the Law Coalition.
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Ralph Nader to New York Judge: Prison Time for Trump 'More Imperative Than Ever'
"Your task is to ensure that the sentence matches the character of the offender, including his clear and present danger to the peaceful transfer of presidential power."
Jul 03, 2024
Legendary consumer advocate and attorney Ralph Nader is calling on the New York judge who presided over Donald Trump's hush money trial to hit the former president with a prison sentence, arguing the case for jail time is "open and shut" and that the defendant poses a grave threat to democracy.
"The law endows you with the discretion to sentence Mr. Trump to prison up to four years based upon the circumstances of the felonies and the obligatory appraisal of the character of the offender after a customary investigation—time-honored sentencing considerations," Nader and Bruce Fein, an attorney who specializes in constitutional law, wrote in a letter to New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan.
Nader released the letter, dated June 28, on the day the U.S. Supreme Court's right-wing supermajority ruled that current and former presidents are entitled to sweeping immunity from criminal prosecution—a decision that threw a wrench in the hush money proceedings and the separate election-subversion case led by Special Counsel Jack Smith.
On Tuesday, Merchan granted a request from Trump's legal team to delay the presumptive GOP presidential nominee's sentencing in the hush money case—in which he was found guilty on 34 felony counts—and consider how the Supreme Court's immunity ruling could impact the proceedings. Trump is now scheduled to be sentenced on September 18, "if such is still necessary," Merchan announced.
Nader argued in a social media post that "a prison sentence is more imperative than ever."
In light of the Supreme Court blocking all avenues of accountability for Trump with its decision in Trump v. United States, Judge Merchan is the last best hope to preserve the Republic from its overthrow by Donald Trump. See our letter to Judge Merchan, which explains why a…
— Ralph Nader (@RalphNader) July 1, 2024
In their letter to Merchan, Nader and Fein wrote that "the future of the United States will be materially influenced by your sentencing Donald J. Trump."
"Mr. Trump threatens a counter-revolution against the American Revolution and the United States Constitution in favor of executive absolutism indistinguishable from French King Louis XIV," Nader and Fein continued. "Mr. Trump and his would-be vice-presidential running mates have repeatedly refused to endorse the peaceful transfer of presidential power after the 2024 presidential election if Mr. Trump shouts electoral fraud without any testing in courts of law or other due process."
"Do not be oblivious to what all the world can see. Mr. Trump covets dictatorial powers like his friend Vladimir Putin in Russia," they added. "Germany's Weimar Republic invited its demise by ignoring Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf, a playbook for the Nazi ascent to absolute power for which the world paid a staggering price. Your task is to ensure that the sentence matches the character of the offender, including his clear and present danger to the peaceful transfer of presidential power. Set a standard to which the wise and honest judge may repair with a jail term—at least a serious fraction of the four-year statutory maximum."
A jail term would not necessarily end Trump's bid for another four years in the White House, and legal experts have struggled to answer the question of what would happen if the former president was elected from prison.
"I don't think that the Framers ever thought we were going to be in this situation," Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School, toldThe New York Times last month.
Nader, a four-time presidential candidate, has vocally warned of the fascist threat posed by Trump and the GOP, a threat he says has only grown in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision in Trump v. United States. Trump's advisers have already signaled that the former president intends to exploit the high court's ruling if he wins in November.
"The six Supreme Court dictators have issued an opinion that 'the king can do no wrong,'" Nader wrote in response to the decision. "They have given absolute immunity to presidents to use the Insurrection Act and the vague national emergency and national security declarations to suppress citizen protests and their political opponents."
"Today will live in infamy as a dictatorial, judicial putsch against the American Republic," Nader added. "Our founders, led by Jefferson, Madison, Franklin, and George Washington would have been stunned."
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If Trump Doesn’t Change, Judge Merchan Will Have No Choice But to Lock Him Up
The key to obtaining leniency in criminal sentencing, even in cases where guilt is a close call, is to show respect for the system and the judge, and to demonstrate remorse, something Trump has failed to do.
Jun 14, 2024
The most important date on Donald Trump’s July calendar isn’t July 4, when the nation celebrates its independence. Nor is it July 15, when the Republican Party convenes its national convention to christen Trump as its official standard-bearer for 2024. The most consequential date is July 11, when Trump will appear for sentencing hearing before New York state judge Juan Merchan.
Merchan will be faced with the historic task of deciding whether a former president should be sent to prison after being found guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in a prosecution brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Once thought to be the weakest of the criminal actions taken against Trump, the case has succeeded beyond expectations in holding Trump to account for his history of skirting the law. But while millions of Americans will be rooting for Merchan to throw the proverbial book at Trump, Merchan’s sentencing decision will not be easy, legally or politically.
From a purely legal standpoint, Merchan’s decision will be one of first impression that will invite close scrutiny on appeal after a hotly contested six-week trial. The decision will also reverberate politically, exacerbating the country’s partisan divides, and strengthening Trump’s stranglehold on the GOP and the neofascist movement he leads.
The worst part of the entire process is not that a former president is now a convicted felon, but that he has convinced nearly half the country that the justice system is so thoroughly corrupt and rigged that the rule of law itself isn’t worth saving.
Under New York law, falsifying business records is ordinarily a misdemeanor. The offense is elevated to a class E (low-grade) felony when the falsification is undertaken for the purpose of committing or concealing an additional crime. The additional crime in Trump’s case is another New York statute that makes it an offense for two or more persons to conspire to influence the outcome of an election by “unlawful means.”
Trump’s co-conspirators include his one-time attorney and “fixer” Michael Cohen; former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker; and Allen Weisselberg, the erstwhile chief financial officer of the Trump Organization. Together with Trump, they hatched a “catch and kill” scheme in August 2015 to prevent the publication of any stories unfavorable to Trump as he campaigned for president in the 2016 election. As part of the scheme, Cohen paid adult film star Stormy Daniels $130,000 to suppress her alleged sexual encounter with Trump in 2006. The hush-money amounted to an illegal in-kind campaign contribution because it exceeded the 2016 limit of $2,700 placed on individual contributions by the Federal Election Campaign Act, and the contribution was never reported to federal regulators.
Given the jury’s unanimous verdict, Merchan will have several sentencing options. Each of the 34 counts carries a potential four-year prison term, with a maximum cap of 20 years. Merchan has the authority to impose any period of incarceration within the statutory maximum, but class E felonies carry no mandatory minimum sentences. Instead of sending Trump to jail or prison, Merchan will have the discretion to place Trump on formal probation, requiring him to report periodically to a probation officer, or grant him a “conditional discharge,” a type of sentence that sets conditions on his release but doesn’t involve in-person supervision. He could also sentence Trump to a term of home confinement or require him to perform some kind of community service plus a fine.
Although Merchan will make the final decision, Trump will play an active and possibly decisive role in determining his punishment. In a very real sense, depending on how he behaves before July 11, Trump will hold the keys to his own future prison cell.
Prior to pronouncing Trump’s sentence, Merchan will receive recommendations from the defense, the district attorney, and the city’s probation department. The probation department conducted a virtual interview with Trump from his Mar-a-Lago home on June 10, and in the coming weeks, it will prepare a pre-sentence report for Merchan’s review. As in other felony prosecutions, the report will focus on such items as the nature of the offense, Trump’s personal history, and his willingness to comply with the terms of probation.
At the sentencing hearing, Merchan will balance and weigh the mitigating factors that militate in favor of a light disposition against the aggravating factors that point to incarceration. As attorney Norm Eisen, who served as co-counsel for the House Judiciary Committee in Trump’s first impeachment trial, has written, Merchan will begin with “the base line against which judges measure all sentences: how other defendants have been treated for similar offenses.”
Eisen’s research shows that since 2015, the Manhattan district attorney’s office has filed over 400 cases of felony falsification of business records. Only 1 in 10 convictions, however, has resulted in incarceration.
The infrequency of jail, along with Trump’s advanced age (he will be 78 at the time of sentencing); the absence of a prior criminal record; and his service as a former president will count as mitigating factors.
On the other side of the ledger, Trump has been found civilly liable for sexually assaulting E. Jean Carroll. In addition, he has been ordered to pay $364 million ($454 million with interest) in damages as a result of the massive business-fraud lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James that concluded earlier this year. He also has violated the limited gag order Judge Merchan imposed on him 10 times, resulting in two findings of criminal contempt. Even more significantly, he has shown absolutely no remorse for his conduct, and has vowed to exact revenge on his political rivals should he be reelected.
On balance, the scales clearly tip against Trump. The key to obtaining leniency in criminal sentencing, even in cases where guilt is a close call, is to show respect for the system and the judge, and to demonstrate remorse. Aware of this cardinal rule, Trump’s lead lawyer Todd Blanche has obtained an order from Merchan permitting him to be present at any pre-sentence interviews to soften his client’s image and demeanor.
It is all but certain that Blanche’s efforts will fail. Trump, according to many mental-health professionals, is a “malignant narcissist” who suffers from a disorder marked by paranoia, narcissism, antisocial personality, and sadism. He is incapable of admitting fault, much less criminal responsibility.
If Trump remains true to form, Merchan will have no choice but to sentence him to jail at Rikers Island or prison at one of New York’s 41 state correctional facilities for men. The sentence will likely be stayed while Trump’s appeal plays out, but will be imposed if the appeal fails.
In the interim, Merchan can be expected to follow standard judicial practice in white-collar prosecutions and grant Trump bail on appeal, allowing him to run unfettered for reelection, and accelerate his unhinged attacks on the rule of law. The worst part of the entire process is not that a former president is now a convicted felon, but that he has convinced nearly half the country that the justice system is so thoroughly corrupt and rigged that the rule of law itself isn’t worth saving.
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