- Since his reelection, Trump has sought to dismiss his hush-money case in the interest of justice.
- His lawyers cited his victory, presidential immunity, and the supremacy of US law over state law.
- On Friday, Judge Merchan rejected those arguments and set a January 10 sentencing date.
A New York judge has rejected Donald Trump’s bid to dismiss his hush-money indictment in the interest of justice, instead setting a January 10 sentencing date — just 10 days before the inauguration.
In his 18-page ruling, State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan gave Trump the choice of appearing in person in his Manhattan courtroom or virtually.
Merchan also said he is inclined to sentence Trump to zero penalties — what’s called an “unconditional discharge” — meaning no jail term, no fines, no community service, no probation.
Such a sentence would honor Trump’s concerns about the demands of the transition and pending presidency, as well as reflect prosecutors’ view that jail is not a practical sentencing recommendation, the judge wrote.
Still, Trump’s arguments failed to justify the outright dismissal of the indictment or overturning the jury’s May 30 verdict, the judge found.
Trump’s arguments were “unpersuasive as no compelling factor, consideration or circumstance submitted demonstrate that imposition of sentence would result in injustice,” the judge wrote.
Trump has called the case a politically-motivated witch hunt — Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is a democrat — and his lawyers have promised to exhaust both his state and federal appellate options in hopes of clearing his rap sheet of the historic conviction.
No other former, current, or future president has been tried and convicted of a felony.
“This lawless case should have never been brought and the Constitution demands that it be immediately dismissed,” Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said of Merchan’s decision.
“President Trump must be allowed to continue the Presidential Transition process and to execute the vital duties of the presidency, unobstructed by the remains of this or any remnants of the Witch Hunts,” Cheung added.
“There should be no sentencing, and President Trump will continue fighting against these hoaxes until they are all dead.”
Criticism for Trump’s character
Trump’s dismissal motion required Merchan to consider Trump’s character, and in his decision the judge took a short but sharp swing at the president-elect’s repeated disparagements of the court system in the nearly two years since his indictment.
“Defendant has gone to great lengths to broadcast on social media and other forums his lack of respect for judges, juries, grand juries, and the justice system as a whole,” the judge wrote.
Trump was also found in contempt of court ten times for his repeated violations of the court’s order barring out-of-court statements attacking prosecutors, witnesses, and the jury, Merchan noted.
“It does not weigh in his favor,” he added.
AP Photo/Seth Wenig
Criticism for defense ‘rhetoric’
Some of Merchan’s most heated language came in a footnote criticizing Trump’s lawyers for “rhetoric that has no place in legal pleadings.”
In their latest dismissal bid, Trump’s lawyers crossed a line by accusing prosecutors and the judge of engaging in unlawful and unconstitutional conduct, Merchan said.
“Those words, by definition, mean ‘criminally punishable,'” the judge wrote Friday, saying accusations of political bias and criminal conduct could endanger judges and “create a chilling effect” on the courts.
“Dangerous rhetoric is not a welcome form of argument and will have no impact on how the Court renders this or any other Decision,” Merchan wrote.
Three prior sentencing delays
Trump’s sentencing has been delayed three times in the half-year since a Manhattan jury found he falsified Trump Organization records throughout his first year in office to retroactively hide a $130,000 hush-money payment that silenced porn actress Stormy Daniels 11 days before the 2016 election.
His first sentencing date, July 11, was scratched to allow time for a back-and-forth over the impact of the US Supreme Court’s July 1 presidential immunity opinion.
The second sentencing date, September 18, was scuttled after Trump argued it was too close to the November 5 election. The third date, November 26, was ditched because the parties needed time to litigate the next steps triggered by his win.
Trump had faced up to four years in prison at sentencing, though former New York judges called it unlikely that Trump — a 78-year-old non-violent felon with no prior criminal record — would be sent to jail. Any sentence — including probation and community service — would almost certainly be stayed during the yearslong appeal process, they also said.
Over the past two years, Trump has sought more than a dozen times to dismiss the hush money case on various grounds, to convince the judge to recuse himself, and to have the case transferred to federal court.
In a dismissal motion from early December, his lawyers argued without success that Trump has presidential immunity from prosecution now, as president-elect.
Merchan rejected that bid two weeks later, finding that the hush-money case hinged on “decidedly personal acts,” plus copious non-official-act evidence of guilt, all of which are exempt from presidential-immunity protection.
Interest-of-justice dismissal
New York’s “furtherance of justice” law lets a judge dismiss a conviction or indictment when, due to “some compelling factor,” it is clear that continuing the case “would constitute or result in injustice.”
That compelling factor is Trump’s pending presidency, his lawyers argued last month.
Meanwhile, Bragg’s side countered that Trump has not met the high legal bar for an interest-of-justice dismissal.
By law, a judge must weigh the seriousness of the offense, the “history, character and condition of the defendant,” and “the impact of a dismissal upon the confidence of the public in the criminal justice system.”
In Friday’s decision, Merchan said that high bar had not been cleared.
The judge made particular mention of “the sanctity of a jury verdict,” calling it “a bedrock principle in our Nation’s jurisprudence” that cannot be casually overridden.
That jury found that Trump promoted his 2016 candidacy for president “by unlawful means—” a serious offense, Merchan wrote.
“Here, 12 jurors unanimously found Defendant guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records with the intent to defraud, which included an intent to commit or conceal a conspiracy to promote a presidential election by unlawful means,” Merchan wrote.
“It was the premediated and continuous deception by the leader of the free world that is the gravamen of this offense,” he wrote.
