Prosecutors from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office urged a New York judge not to throw out President-elect Donald Trump’s criminal conviction in his hush money case, offering a range of suggestions about how the case could move forward without interference with his presidential duties.
One suggestion was that the judge would assure Trump he would be spared prison time, which could allay his “concerns” while he is in office, they said in the filing made public Tuesday. But, they argued, there is no reason to dismiss the case or overturn the May verdict.
The “overwhelming evidence of the defendant’s guilt and the critical importance of maintaining public confidence in the criminal justice system, among many other factors, weigh heavily against dismissal,” prosecutors from District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office argued .
They also rejected Trump’s claim that the case should be dismissed “immediately” because he is already protected by presidential immunity.
“There is no president-elect immunity. And even after the inauguration, the defendant’s temporary immunity as a sitting president will still not justify the extreme remedy of rejecting the jury’s unanimous guilty verdict and wiping out the already completed stages of these criminal proceedings.” the filing said.
“[N]o The principle of immunity precludes further proceedings before the inauguration of the suspect. And even if a verdict has not been entered by the time the defendant is installed, there is no legal barrier to delaying sentencing until after the defendant’s term has ended,” the report said.
In a statement, Trump spokesman Steven Cheung called the filing “a pathetic attempt to salvage the remnants of an unconstitutional and politically motivated hoax.”
Trump’s lawyers have argued that he already has immunity because there is “no material difference between President Trump’s current status after his landslide victory in the national election and that of a sitting president after his inauguration.” They say the misdemeanor charge and his subsequent jury conviction should be dismissed on immunity grounds.
Judge Juan Merchan postponed Trump’s sentencing indefinitely last month so both sides could make their arguments.
In Tuesday’s filing, the district attorney’s office said, “At most, the suspect should be provided with temporary housing during his presidency to prevent this criminal case from meaningfully interfering with his official decision-making.”
Prosecutors presented a number of possible ways forward, including delaying Trump’s sentencing until after he is no longer in office.
“The people certainly do not dispute that presidential immunity requires accommodation during a president’s term in office. But the extreme remedy of dismissing the indictment and reversing the jury’s verdict is not warranted in light of several alternative accommodations that would entirely address the concerns. raised by presidential immunity,” their filing said.
A delay, they said, would release Trump “from any immediate liabilities in this case during his term in office, while simultaneously safeguarding the public interest in upholding the rule of law and preserving the meaningful aspects of the criminal process that have already come to light.” are respected. occurred.”
The district attorney’s office also noted that Trump has already said he would appeal any sentence and that it is “the practice in New York for appeals to be decided years after sentencing, even without a formal delay in sentencing.” procedure.”
Prosecutors also noted that Trump has already delayed sentencing for several months.
“Here, defendant can hardly complain of a delay in sentencing when he affirmatively requested such a delay – both before and after his re-election,” the filing says.
The judge could also ease some of Trump’s concerns by ruling not to sentence him to any time behind bars, prosecutors said.
The filing stated that “many of Defendant’s concerns arise from the possibility that he may face ‘possible incarceration.'” However, because Defendant here has no prior criminal convictions and has been convicted of Class E felonies, this Court not at all required to impose a prison sentence, and could even impose an unconditional dismissal.”
That kind of “limitation on the range of available sentences would further reduce the impact on the defendant’s presidential decision-making, without going so far as to completely overrule the indictment and the jury’s verdict,” the filing said.
The district attorney’s office also presented a new alternative, suggesting Merchan could use a mechanism known as abatement, which is used in Alabama and some other states when suspects die before sentencing.
Under the so-called Alabama rule, “when a defendant dies after being found guilty, but before the conviction becomes final through the appeals process, the court shall place in the case file an annotation to the effect that the conviction removes the presumption.” of innocence, but was neither affirmed nor reversed on appeal because the defendant died,” the district attorney’s office said, saying it essentially “reduces the criminal proceedings without vacating the underlying conviction or dismissing the charges ‘.
Although abatement is not used in New York, prosecutors argued that it provides a solution where, as here, there are concerns about finality and punishment.
It is unclear when Merchan will rule on the dismissal motions.
Trump was convicted in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with a hush-money payment his then-attorney Michael Cohen made to adult film star Stormy Daniels in the final days of the 2016 election.
Daniels claims she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006, which he denies.
In their lawsuits, Trump’s lawyers said prosecutors should follow the example of special counsel Jack Smith, who sought to dismiss his two federal criminal cases against Trump after he won the election.
Prosecutors noted that there are significant differences between their case and Smith’s cases, including that Smith’s cases had not gone to trial.
Cheung, Trump’s spokesman, said: “This lawless case should never have been brought, and the Constitution demands that it be immediately dismissed as President Trump must be allowed to continue the presidential transition process and carry out the vital duties of the presidency. unencumbered by the remains of this, or any other, Witch Hunt.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
