New York’s highest court decided on Thursday not to stop Donald Trump’s sentencing in the hush money case, leaving the U.S. Supreme Court as the last option to delay the hearing, which is set for Friday.
A judge from the New York Court of Appeals made a quick decision to deny Trump’s legal team’s request for a hearing.
Trump had asked the U.S. Supreme Court to cancel the sentencing scheduled for Friday. His lawyers turned to the highest court in the country after New York’s courts refused to delay the sentencing by Judge Juan M. Merchan.
Merchan was the judge who oversaw Trump’s trial and conviction last May for 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Prosecutors said the charges were related to an attempt to hide a $130,000 hush money payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels. Trump has denied any wrongdoing.
Trump’s lawyers argued in their filing to the New York Court that both Judge Merchan and the state’s mid-level appeals court wrongly refused to stop the sentencing.
They claimed the Constitution requires an automatic pause during an appeal and that holding the sentencing would interfere with Trump’s presidential transition. He is preparing to return to the White House on January 20.
Prosecutors argued against this, saying there was no reason for the U.S. Supreme Court to step in and halt the sentencing, especially since Trump had previously asked for the delay himself.
Prosecutors stated that it was important for the sentencing to go ahead. They also pointed out that Trump had no evidence to support his claim that his presidential duties would prevent him from attending the sentencing, which they expected to last no more than an hour.
Although Judge Merchan has said he would not impose jail time, fines, or probation, Trump’s lawyers still argued that a felony conviction would have serious consequences, including distracting Trump as he prepares to take office.
Trump’s attorney, D. John Sauer, said the case was politically driven and that going ahead with sentencing now would be an “injustice.” Sauer, who is also Trump’s choice to be solicitor general, would represent the government in front of the Supreme Court.
The emergency motion was sent to Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who deals with emergency appeals from New York.
Trump’s lawyers also argued that the evidence used in the Manhattan trial went against last year’s Supreme Court decision, which gave Trump broad immunity for actions he took as president. At the very least, they said, the sentencing should be delayed while they continue to appeal this immunity issue.
However, judges in New York have ruled that Trump’s convictions were linked to personal matters, not official presidential actions covered by the Supreme Court’s ruling.
Prosecutors argue that Trump’s claims don’t have enough legal backing to change his conviction and that the case should not be delayed because it’s about evidence, not the main charges.
If a pause were granted now, it would likely delay the sentencing beyond Trump’s inauguration, leading to a lengthy or possibly indefinite delay, according to prosecutors.
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