Trump’s New York case: What happens now?

Question: What will happen in Donald Trump’s New York state criminal case now that he is elected president?

A: Trump is scheduled to be sentenced on November 26, but the judge may decide that sentencing is no longer appropriate. If Trump is convicted, it could be appealed, or the sentence could be postponed until 2029, when Trump would be out of office.

COMPLETE QUESTION

What happens if Trump wins the election and he is then sentenced at the end of the month?

COMPLETE ANSWER

President-elect Donald Trump is scheduled to be sentenced in Manhattan on Nov. 26 after being convicted in May of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to conceal election violations stemming from an attempt to hush up an alleged extramarital affair. Judge Juan Merchan, who oversaw Trump’s trial in New York, already has twice exposed the sentencing, which was originally scheduled for July 11.

Now that Trump has been elected the next US president, it is possible that he will not be convicted at all.

Before Trump’s sentencing, Merchan, on November 12, is planned to decide whether the sentence should be rejected entirely on the basis of a movement that Trump’s legal team filed after the July 1 Supreme Court ruling that presidents have immunity for certain official acts while in office.

However, CNN has reported that by Nov. 12, Trump’s lawyers plan to try to overturn the conviction by filing a motion that “argues that, as a president-elect, he is entitled to the same constitutional protections as a sitting president and should be shielded from any action by state prosecutors .”

If either motion is granted, the charges will be dismissed.

“However, if the judge decides to keep the sentence intact, the former president’s lawyers are expected to ask Merchan to stay Trump’s sentence so they can appeal,” CNN said. “And if it isn’t granted, his lawyers plan to appeal the immunity ruling to state appeals courts and potentially all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court to ask the courts to stay Trump’s sentence until all appeals are exhausted, which could take months.”

If Merchan continues with the sentencing, he has several options, as we have written.

Trump Could Get Jail, But It’s Not Likely Cheryl Bader, a clinical associate professor of law at Fordham University School of Law, told us in a June interview.

For a first-time felon with a low-level, nonviolent offense and someone of advanced age, “in any circumstance like that, there would be a relatively low chance of incarceration,” she said.

Other sentencing options include probation or a “conditional discharge” with conditions other than prison or probation. The “simplest” option, she said, could be for the judge to fine Trump.

“He has not wanted to put his thumb on the scale during the election, but now that the election is over, it will be interesting to see if Judge Merchan will feel an attraction to postpone the political process or will see this as perhaps the only option for a judge to hold Trump accountable for his criminal behavior,” Bader said in a Nov. 7 email to us.

If a prison sentence is imposed, the judge could order that the sentence be served after Trump completes his four-year term as president in 2029. The Trump team could also appeal a commuted sentence.

But some legal experts don’t see it going that way.

“I think any reasonable judge would not convict the president-elect,” Jill Konviser, a retired New York court judge, told Politico for a story that said “the sentencing in the hush money case almost certainly won’t happen.”

And Greg Germaina corporate attorney and professor of law at Syracuse University, told Newsweek that the money case must be “stayed” or stopped. “If Judge Merchan tries to go ahead with it, or even set it up for sentencing, the Justice Department will step in and ultimately the Supreme Court will strike him down,” he was quoted as saying.

But Germain said he doesn’t believe the judge will try to convict Trump.

Unlike the pending federal prosecutions against him, Trump can’t apologize himself for state offences.

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Sources

Bader, Cheryl, Clinical Associate Professor of Law at Fordham University School of Law. Email sent to FactCheck.org. 7 November 2024.

Farley, Robert, et al. “Questions and Answers About Trump’s Criminal Conviction.” FactCheck.org. 31 May 2024.

O’Driscoll, Sean. “Supreme Court Will ‘Strike Down’ Donald Trump Hush Money Case – Lawyer.” Newsweek. 7 Nov. 2024.

Order, Erica. “Trump is to be sentenced in 3 weeks. That probably won’t happen.” Political. 6 Nov. 2024.

Cole, Devan, et al. “What is happening to Trump’s criminal and civil cases now that he has been re-elected.” CNN. 6 Nov. 2024.

Reiss, Adam. “The judge postpones Trump’s sentencing in the hush money case until after the November election.” NBC News. 6 Sept. 2024.