A judge in New York has delayed former President Donald Trump’s sentencing in the Manhattan case until November 26.
The decision follows a request from the former president’s legal team, who asked for more time to appeal a pending ruling on presidential immunity.
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Judge Juan Merchan granted the delay after Trump’s attorneys argued that the previous sentencing date, September 18, was too soon following the anticipated September 16 ruling on presidential immunity, according to NBC News.
That ruling is expected by Sept. 16 – just two days before what would have been the first ever sentencing of a former president on criminal charges. Trump was convicted in May on 34 counts of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels near the end of the 2016 presidential campaign.
“A single business day is an unreasonably short period of time” for such an appeal, Trump attorneys Todd Blanche and Emil Bove argued in an Aug. 14 filing. “There is no basis for continuing to rush,” they contended.
Prosecutors from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office said they would “defer to the Court on whether an adjournment is warranted to allow for orderly appellate litigation” of any Trump appeal, but “would be prepared to appear for sentencing on any future date the Court sets.”
This is the second time Trump’s sentencing has been delayed. The initial sentencing date was set for July 11, but was delayed after his attorneys argued that the Supreme Court’s ruling expanding presidential immunity could affect the outcome.
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The former president was convicted in May on 34 counts of falsifying business records related to money paid to his former attorney, Michael Cohen, purportedly as reimbursement for a hush money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign.
The former president’s legal team also sought to move the New York case to federal court, which could have delayed the process even further. However, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein denied the request, arguing that the hush money payments were private, not official acts. He said the payments were “a cover-up of an embarrassing event,” unrelated to Trump’s duties as president, which meant the Supreme Court’s ruling had no bearing on his case.
