GUILTY NY - Ex-President Donald Trump, charged with 34 criminal counts of falsifying business records, Apr 2023, Trial 25 Mar 2024 #4

[TootsieFootsie]

All the news outlets I'm seeing say that the Supreme court has denied the application.

Supreme Court declines to block Trump's sentencing in New York hush money case

The decision means a sentencing hearing scheduled for Friday can go ahead as planned. The president-elect had asked the high court to intervene.

www.nbcnews.com

I changed this to add my smile

 

[JennieM]

Merchan has indicated he will not impose jail time, fines or probation, but Trump’s lawyers argued a felony conviction would still have intolerable side-effects, including distracting him as he prepares to take office in just over a week’s time.

The supreme court is dominated by conservative justices, three of which were appointed by Trump during his first term as president.

US supreme court rejects Trump bid to call off sentencing in hush-money case

President-elect had sought to overturn New York appeals court ruling but sentencing will go ahead on Friday

www.theguardian.com

 

[JennieM]

God forbid his criminality distracts him from taking office!

 

[TootsieFootsie]

It's good to see that the majority of the judges did the right thing.

 

[SouthAussie]

Will we be able read a written dissenting opinion by the minority?

At the moment all I can find is the official (very brief) order linked below.

Order in Pending Case

 

[Tamagal]

Merchan has indicated he will not impose jail time, fines or probation, but Trump’s lawyers argued a felony conviction would still have intolerable side-effecs, including distracting him as he prepares to take office in just over a week’s time.

The supreme court is dominated by conservative justices, three of which were appointed by Trump during his first term as president.

US supreme court rejects Trump bid to call off sentencing in hush-money case

President-elect had sought to overturn New York appeals court ruling but sentencing will go ahead on Friday

www.theguardian.com

At the moment all I can find is the official (very brief) order linked below.

Order in Pending Case

Thank you. No surprise. ‍

 

[Tamagal]

Just a way to continue the "convicted felon" association every time his name is mentioned. JMO

Am I missing something here….is he not a “convicted felon”?

 

[Niner]

A long one - will shorten it up after sentencing...

Friday, January 10th:
*Sentencing Hearing (@ 9:30am ET) – NY - *Donald John Trump (76/now 78) was indicted (3/30/23), formally arrested, charged & arraigned (4/4/23) with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the 1st degree & conspiracy in connection with hush money payments to two women [Stephanie Clifford aka adult actor Stormy Daniels & former Playboy model Karen McDougal] before the 2016 presidential election. Plead not guilty. Warrant vacated, released on own recognizance. New York County
New York: Submitting false invoices or checks. All 34 counts against Trump are felony charges (class E) instead of misdemeanors.
Trial began on 4/15/24 with jury selection & ended on 4/19/24. 12 jurors & 6 alternates. [Jurors: 7 men & 5 women/6 Alternates: 5 women & 1 man].
Trial began on 4/22/24 & ended on 5/28/24 with closing arguments. Prosecutors rested their case on 5/20/24. Defense began their case on 5/20/24 & ended on 5/21/24.
Verdict Watch: Jury deliberations Day 1 (5/29/24) started at 11:37am to 4:06pm. Total: 4 hours 30 minutes (includes 1 hour for lunch but deliberating). Day 2 (5/30/24) started at 11:17am to 4:30pm. Total: 5 hours & 15 minutes.
Total Deliberations: ~9 hours & 45 minutes. Verdict: Guilty on all 34 felony charges.
New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Marchan presiding. Manhattan Attorney General Alvin Bragg. Prosecutors are Susan Hoffinger, Joshua Steinglass & Matthew Colangelo. Defense attorneys Todd Blanche, Emil Bove, Susan Necheles & Gedalia Stern.
Investigation & court info from 3/30/23 thru 4/12/24 & Jury Selection Days 1-4 (4/15-4/19/24) & Trial Day 1-19 (4/22-5/30/24) & Jury Deliberations Day 1-2 (5/29-30/24) & thru 11/11/24 reference post #731 here:
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/t...s-apr-2023-trial-25-mar-2024-4.713952/page-37
11/12/24 Update: Judge Merchan delays ruling on whether to throw out conviction. Postponement follows numerous successful attempts to delay case where he was convicted on 34 felony counts. Judge Juan Merchan told Trump’s lawyers on Tuesday that he’d delay the ruling until 11/19/24. Sentencing on 11/26/24 @ 9am.
11/19/24 Update: Trump’s 11/26/24 sentencing in his New York hush money case was adjourned by the court as the judge weighs how to handle the prosecution in the wake of the former president’s reelection victory. The sentencing was called off without explanation Tuesday in a short note by the court. A Alvin Bragg's team tells Justice Merchan how they want to proceed with Trump's hush money case now that he's president-elect. "Consideration must be given to various non-dismissal options ... such as deferral of all remaining criminal proceedings until after the end of Defendant’s upcoming presidential term,” DA Bragg said.
11/22/24 Update: Judge Merchan overseeing Trump’s criminal hush money trial has adjourned his sentencing, which was set for next week. Judge Juan Merchan also agreed to hold off on issuing his decision on presidential immunity until after he reviews the parties’ filings. Merchan granted Trump’s request to file a motion to dismiss the case – ordering them to submit their papers by December 2. Prosecutors are ordered to respond by December 9. Trump’s team wanted to have until December 20 to file their paperwork. The judge did not set a new sentencing date or make any further statements about the delay.
12/2/24 Update: Trump’s lawyers have filed paperwork pushing for dismissal of his Manhattan criminal hush-money case [due to his immunity as president-elect]. Merchan said in his postponement decision that Trump’s lawyers had a 2 December deadline to file their argument for dismissal. Prosecutors had a week [on 12/9/24] to submit their response. Manhattan prosecutors have argued against dismissal in prior court papers & have suggested a solution that would obviate any concerns about interrupting his presidency – including “deferral of all remaining criminal proceedings until after the end of defendant’s upcoming presidential term”. See post #741, page 38, thread #4 for more info.
12/9/24 Update: The application for stay addressed to Justice Alito & referred to the Court is denied.
12/10/24 Update: Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg says Trump’s imminent return to the presidency is not a reason to throw out the 34-count conviction that jurors delivered in the hush money case earlier this year. Bragg conceded in a court filing that Trump cannot be sentenced while he is president. But he said Justice Juan Merchan has a variety of options to put the case on hold during Trump’s second term & then issue a sentence after he leaves office in January 2029. Bragg’s suggestion to keep the case on ice — rather than tossing out the conviction, as Trump is requesting — doubles down on a proposal that the prosecutor first floated in a letter to the judge last month. Prosecutors argued that Merchan can use various mechanisms to preserve the guilty verdict while taking steps to shield Trump from consequences that could be seen as hindering his ability to focus on his presidential duties. The options include simply suspending the case until Trump’s term is over. Merchan could also announce in advance that he won’t sentence Trump to any jail time & won’t consider Trump’s conduct as president when determining a future sentence — a declaration, prosecutors said, that would dramatically reduce concerns about whether the looming sentence could impede Trump’s presidency.
12/16/24 Update: Trump’s felony conviction in the New York hush money case should not be tossed out because of the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity, Judge Juan Merchan ruled Monday. Judge Merchan’s decision rejected one of several avenues that Trump’s lawyers have taken to try to dismiss Trump’s May guilty verdict on 34 counts of falsifying business records. The judge did not, however, rule on a motion from Trump’s attorneys to dismiss the conviction because Trump has now been elected president. Instead, his 41-page decision focused on the question of presidential immunity. Judge Merchan wrote the Supreme Court’s ruling that Trump should receive broad immunity for official acts during his time in office did not mean the conviction should be dismissed, ruling that the evidence presented by the Manhattan DA’s office was not related to Trump’s official conduct as president. The evidence contested by Trump’s lawyers, the judge wrote, related “entirely to unofficial conduct” & should receive no immunity protections. Trump’s lawyers are likely to appeal Merchan’s decision, one of several potential motions for dismissal that could leave the case tied up for months or even years. Merchan still has to rule on Trump’s argument that his status as president was a “legal impediment” to further criminal proceedings & the case should be dismissed as a result.
12/19/24 Update: As Trump fights to overturn his hush money criminal conviction, the one New York Democrat with authority to grant him a pardon signaled that she would need to see some remorse from the president-elect first. “There is a pardoning process in the state of New York. It is lengthy,” Hochul said at an unrelated news conference. “It requires a couple of elements. One is remorse.” She continued: “No one will be treated any better, or any worse, by me when I make those life altering decisions as we’re looking at petitions that are coming in throughout the year. So, no one gets extra favors, no one gets treated worse.”
1/3/25 Update: Judge Juan Merchan on Friday set Trump’s sentencing in his hush-money case on 1/10/25 – little over a week before he is due to return to the White House – but promised not to jail him. Judge Merchan, who presided over Trump’s trial, signaled in a written decision that he would sentence the former & future president to what is known as a conditional discharge, in which a case gets dismissed if a defendant avoids re-arrest.
1/5/25 Docket Update: Trump's filing of appellate proceedings raising his claims of Presidential immunity, all proceedings in this Court are automatically stayed by operation of federal constitutional law. In the alternative, even if such a stay were discretionary, the Court should grant such a stay. The Court should vacate the sentencing hearing scheduled for 1/10/25. Judge Merchan has denied Trump's motion to move Friday sentencing. Appellate filed: Order to Show Cause. Affirmation of Urgency. President Trump's Memorandum of Law in Support of Motion to Expedite Resolution of Article 78 Petition & To Stay Trial Court Proceedings Pending Review of Claims of Presidential Immunity. All filed by Todd Blanche. For more info: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25480392-emergency-petition/
1/7/25 Update: Trump is suing Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg & Judge Juan Merchan over his denial of the president-elect’s immunity motions.
1/7/25 Update: Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche – the president-elect’s pick to be deputy attorney general in his new administration – argued Tuesday to the New York Appellate Division, First Department, that it should stop Trump’s sentencing, acknowledging the situation was unprecedented. Asked to stay the proceedings in the hush money case – including his sentencing scheduled for Friday – while he appeals his conviction, after Judge Juan Merchan, the trial judge, rejected his demand to stop the sentencing. Associate Justice Ellen Gesmer swiftly denied Trump’s request following a brief hearing on the matter Tuesday afternoon. A New York appeals court judge has rejected Trump’s request to postpone his Friday sentencing in the hush money case. Manhattan DA’s Office Chief of Appeals Steven Wu argued Trump’s lawyers have not put forward any argument that a one-hour sentencing hearing would disrupt Trump’s responsibilities as president-elect. Blanche said sentencing is an “extraordinary” imposition on Trump, adding a criminal sentencing is “a big deal” in someone’s life even if it’s only going to take an hour. The judge cut him off & noted Merchan would have been happy to sentence Trump in July.
1/7/25 Update: Trump is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to halt his Friday sentencing for his conviction on charges related to a hush money scheme one day after a New York appeals court judge declined to halt the proceeding. Trump’s lawyers filed an emergency application with the high court early Wednesday after a New York appeals court judge turned down his request to indefinitely postpone the sentencing. The trial court judge scheduled to sentence Trump on Friday, Justice Juan Merchan, has indicated he doesn’t plan to send Trump to jail & will permit him to attend the proceeding virtually. Still, Trump’s lawyers told the Supreme Court that the sentencing will result in “burden, disruption, stigma & distraction” to him as he carries out his duties as president-elect. Trump’s emergency application was submitted to Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who asked Bragg’s office to respond by 10am Thursday, 1/9/25. Sotomayor, who oversees emergency matters arising from New York, is all but certain to refer the matter to the full bench of the Supreme Court for a decision. The votes of a majority of the justices will be needed to grant the stay Trump is seeking. Trump’s filing also asks the justices to temporarily halt the sentencing scheduled Friday if they need more time to make a decision.
1/9/25 Update: The U.S. Supreme Court will not block tomorrow's sentencing, in a 5-4 vote. "Justices Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh, Samuel Alito & Neil Gorsuch would have granted Trump's application for a postponement of sentencing, the majority wrote." The decision means a sentencing hearing scheduled for Friday, 1/10/25 can go ahead as planned.

 

[Niner]

Am I missing something here….is he not a “convicted felon”?

According to what I have read - he won't be a "convicted" felon until after sentencing.

 

[SouthAussie]

Am I missing something here….is he not a “convicted felon”?

He has been convicted but in NY he won't be officially be a felon until the sentence is imposed.

As per this NY Times link ....

Trump Is Set to Avoid Punishment, but Sentencing Will Make Him a Felon

Though the president-elect is expected to avoid jail time, his sentencing on 34 counts will formalize his status as a felon and make him the first to carry that distinction into the White House.

www.nytimes.com

 

[musicaljoke]

It's good to see that the majority of the judges did the right thing.

Yes, this time. However, it certainly exposes the vulnerability of the Supreme Court to political interference, the potential for corruption, and it reveals how the Supreme Court lacks integrity. Why was that not a unanimous vote? Were they judging the law or not?

It's a very frail system right now. I am not confident that the American people will be able to maintain the standard of law that they have enjoyed in the past.

jmo

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Trump hush money case LIVE: Outside court as the President-elect faces sentencing

 

[TootsieFootsie]

There doesn't seem to be anyone reporting from the live link.

 

[Lilibet]

It looks like some members of the press were just taken into the courtroom.

And now they left the courtroom and are off camera.

 

[Lilibet]

Lots of people leaving. Is it over?

 

[bestill]

It's over. He was sentenced to unconditional discharge, so nothing, no time, no community service, no fine - just now being called a "convicted felon". He won't be able to carry firearm but he will be the commander of the military and President. JMO

 

[bestill]

Am I missing something here….is he not a “convicted felon”?

He is now, he needed sentencing to be.

 

[Lilibet]

Trump has been sentenced per WaPo (pay wall). I can’t find a story anywhere else. It was an unconditional discharge…no fine, probation, etc. Judge Merchan wished him “God speed” as he pursues his second term in office.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/01/10/trump-sentencing-hush-money-case/

 

[TootsieFootsie]

 

[Lilibet]

https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-hush-money-sentencing-01-10-25/index.html

Trump sentencing live updates: Judge sentences Trump to ‘unconditional discharge in hush money case

Follow live updates and the latest news coverage as Trump attends his sentencing hearing with Judge Juan Merchan following jury conviction in his hush money case.

www.nbcnews.com

Trump sentenced in New York hush-money case days before taking office

Donald Trump avoids jail time or a fine but the US president-elect’s criminal conviction will be on his record.

www.aljazeera.com