Editor-DN
New York:
The New York judge presiding over President-elect Donald Trump’s hush money case on Friday sentenced him to 10 days before his Jan. 20 inauguration and said he was not inclined to impose jail time.
Trump, the first former president to be convicted of a crime, could appear either in person or virtually at the Jan. 10 sentencing, Judge Joan Murchin said.
In an 18-page ruling, Murchan rejected various motions by Trump’s lawyers seeking to overturn his conviction.
The judge said he was leaning toward an unconditional discharge — a much lenient sentence that would still require Trump to enter the White House as a convicted felon.
“It seems appropriate at this juncture to take notice of the court’s tendency not to impose a prison sentence,” the judge said, noting that the prosecution also did not “feasible recommend” a prison sentence. Believed.
Trump was convicted in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments to porn star Stormi Daniels in the run-up to the 2016 election to prevent Trump from disclosing an alleged 2006 sexual encounter in New York.
Trump’s lawyers had sought to have the case dismissed on various grounds, including the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling last year that former US presidents enjoy broad immunity from prosecution for various official acts while in office.
Murchin rejected that argument but noted that Trump would be immune from prosecution after being sworn in as president.
“Finding no statutory impediment to sentencing and recognizing that presidential immunity will likely attach once the defendant takes his oath of office, this court has a duty to address the issue 20,” Murchin said. Schedule the execution of the sentence before January 2025.”
Trump also faced two federal cases brought by special counsel Jack Smith, but both were dropped under longstanding Justice Department policy not to prosecute sitting presidents.
Trump was accused of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election he lost to Joe Biden and of removing a large number of highly classified documents after he left the White House, but the cases never went to trial.
Trump also faces fraud charges in Georgia for trying to alter the 2020 election results in the southern state, but that case will likely be frozen while he is in the White House.
(Other than the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
