NEW YORK: A New York state judge paused for a week further action on President-elect Donald Trump’s conviction stemming from hush money paid to a porn star, a document made public on Tuesday showed.
Justice Juan Merchan delayed at least through Nov. 19 any decision on whether to vacate Trump’s conviction due to the US Supreme Court’s decision in July that presidents are immune from prosecution involving their official acts.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office had said it agreed with a defense request to pause proceedings to consider how to approach the case in light of Trump’s Nov. 5 election and looming inauguration in January 2025.
Trump in May became the first US president - former or sitting - convicted of a crime when a jury in Manhattan found him guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up a potential sex scandal shortly before his first election win in 2016. Trump, who pleaded not guilty, has vowed to appeal the verdict after sentencing.
The judge has yet to delay sentencing, scheduled for Nov. 26, but legal experts widely expect it to be pushed back because of the Republican Trump’s presidential election victory over Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.
The prosecutors asked to have until Nov. 19 to propose next steps, and Merchan agreed. “The People agree that these are unprecedented circumstances,” prosecutors wrote.
At issue in the trial was a $130,000 payment made by Trump’s then-lawyer Michael Cohen to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about a sexual encounter she said she had with him in 2006 but which he has denied.
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