New York Judge Juan Merchan on Friday delayed Donald Trump’s sentencing in the Stormy Daniels case until several weeks after the November election, the latest dramatic twist in the case.
The decision sets the verdict for November 26. It was scheduled for September 18, which would have fallen just two months earlier election day.
Trump’s team had asked for a delay, while prosecutors had left the case to the judge’s discretion.
The judge, who repeatedly attacked Trump during his trial and again on Friday, told the parties he will make his decision on the timing on Friday. Trump faces a maximum of four years in prison, though experts predict the first-time offender may not receive any time.
Trump’s lawyers have sought to have the case moved out of Merchan’s Manhattan courtroom and into federal court. They have said Merchan should not convict Trump while that case is still pending, and have argued that the fall sentence amounts to “election interference.”
The decision in Trump’s favor came just hours after Trump again attacked the judge, accusing him of having a conflict of interest in the case.
“That case is a disgrace — should never have been allowed to proceed. I did nothing wrong,” Trump said in a lengthy press statement from Trump Tower, in which he also attacked New York District Judge Arthur Engoron and female prosecutors who testified in the E. Jean Carroll case.
Trump again accused the Justice Department of steering the case, which was decided by a jury in Manhattan. “It’s very corrupt in New York. It’s a very corrupt place.”
The office of District Attorney Alvin Bragg had said the judge should make a decision, but said in a filing that Trump’s complaints about the timing of the case “are a result of his own strategic and delaying litigation tactics.’
The high-stakes decision comes as Trump, who issued a combative press release on Friday, appeared in court in another case in which his remaining attorneys are appealing a $5 million judgment against him in the E. Jean Carroll defamation case.
The former prosecutor strongly opposed the Stormy Daniels case and accused Vice President Kamala Harris and the US Department of Justice of being behind it
Merchan had already postponed sentencing from an original July 11 date amid the legal battle over whether Trump enjoys immunity from prosecution for official acts. Some of the evidence in the Stormy Daniels case shows Trump signing checks for the final installment of the porn star’s hush-money payments from the Oval Office.
Trump’s decision to appear in Carroll’s appeal comes a day after he decided not to appear at a January 6 court hearing in Washington, DC on the status of his case.
In that case, he had his attorney John Lauro enter his “not guilty” plea in connection with his attempt to overturn the election.
In the Stormy Daniels hush-money case, Trump’s team has twice tried to delay the verdict.
In May, he was convicted of 34 counts of falsifying business records related to payments to the porn star.
Trump has repeatedly criticized the case, and on Thursday night accused his election rival Kamala Harris of fabricating it. (Trump previously accused President Joe Biden of being behind his prosecution.)
Judge Juan Merchan says he will decide whether to postpone the sentencing scheduled for September 18 in his Stormy Daniels case
The sentencing discussions follow Trump’s conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with the “secret” $130,000 payments to Stormy Daniels
In a separate case, Trump and E. Jean Carroll both attended an appeals court hearing in Trump’s attempt to appeal a $5 million jury verdict
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‘Here is what several legal scholars and experts, brilliant lawyers, and highly respected journalists think about the Manhattan DA Hoax, where the Democrats, led by Comrade Kamala Harris, are working directly with the DOJ (which they really shouldn’t be!) to put a former President of the United States and the leading candidate for President in JAIL. This is unheard of, nothing like this has ever happened in our country and they are doing it in a blatant and illegal attempt to “win” an election that, based on their results, should be “unwinnable” but I can’t talk about it because Judge Merchan has an unconstitutional gag order on me. Somehow it will ALL work out – I don’t know how, I don’t know why, I don’t know when, but it always works out!’
While Merchan Trump could face a sentence of up to four years, legal experts say a sentence of probation or community service is more likely.
