NEW YORK (AP) — Prosecutors want to preserve President-elect Donald Trump’s hush-money conviction even as he returns to office, proposing several ways to handle the criminal case — including the novel idea of a trial loans that some courts use when suspects die.
In court documents made public Tuesday, the Manhattan district attorney’s office proposed a series of options to keep the historic conviction on the books.
The proposals include freezing the case until he is no longer in office, or agreeing that any future sentence will not include jail time. Another idea: close the case with a note that acknowledges his conviction but notes that he was never convicted and that his appeal was not resolved because of presidential immunity.
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The latter is adapted from the way some states handle cases in which a suspect dies after being convicted but before appeals have been exhausted. It’s unclear whether this option is feasible under New York law, but prosecutors suggested Judge Juan M. Merchan could innovate.
“Especially given the novelty of Defendant’s own immunity claims, it would hardly be inappropriate for this Court to exercise its inherent jurisdiction to consider new remedies,” the Manhattan prosecutors wrote, noting “the context of this unique case.” ”
Building on a position they laid out last month, prosecutors were adamant that the conviction should be upheld. They argue that Trump’s impending return to the White House should not upset a jury’s findings.
There was no immediate response from Trump’s lawyers, who are pushing for the case to be dropped entirely in light of his election.
The Trump team argues that pursuing the case would cause unconstitutional “disruptions” to his upcoming presidential term. The lawyers also cited that President Joe Biden recently pardoned his son Hunter Biden, who was convicted on tax and gun charges. Biden complained that his son was being unfairly prosecuted for political reasons — and Trump’s lawyers say that was also the case.
It is unclear how quickly Merchan can decide what to do next with the case. Trump, a Republican, takes office on January 20.
His sentencing was scheduled to take place at the end of last month. But after Trump’s election victory on November 5, Merchan halted the proceedings and postponed the sentencing of the former and future president indefinitely so that the defense and prosecution could exert their influence on the future of the case.
Merchan also postponed a decision on Trump’s earlier bid to dismiss the case on immunity grounds.
Trump has been fighting for months to overturn his conviction on 34 counts of falsifying corporate records. Prosecutors said he tampered with the documents to conceal a $130,000 payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels to suppress her claim that they had sex a decade earlier.
He says this is not the case and denies that there is any wrongdoing. Trump is portraying the case as a political attack concocted by DA Alvin Bragg and other Democrats.
A dismissal would erase Trump’s historic conviction and spare him the cloud of a criminal record and possible prison time. Trump is the first former president to be convicted of a crime and the first convicted felon to be elected to office.
Merchan could also decide to uphold the verdict and proceed with sentencing, delaying the case until Trump leaves office, waiting for a federal appeals court to rule on Trump’s parallel attempt to throw the case out of state court. or choose another option.
The hush money case was the only one of Trump’s four criminal charges to go to trial.
Since the election, Special Counsel Jack Smith has ended his two federal cases, which involved Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss and allegations that he hoarded classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. A separate state election interference case in Fulton County, Georgia, has been largely stayed. Trump denies wrongdoing in all respects.
