Saturday, 23 November 2024

‘Extraordinary circumstances’: Judge Merchan Issues UNEXPECTED Ruling In Trump Criminal Sentencing

100 Percent Fed Up
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Well folks, this was not expected!

Yes, we expected to get a ruling today on the sentencing (or lack of sentencing) of President Trump in the so-called “hush money” case where he has been “convicted” of 34 counts of “Trumped-up” charges.

We widely expected one of two outcomes, either: (1) an actual sentencing to prison, in which things would have gotten WILD, or (2) a dismissal of the case, just like the Jack Smith dismissals.

We just got a ruling, but it wasn’t either of those two outcomes.

Judge Merchan found a third way out, one that kicks the can down the road for a LONG time….Judge Merchan has simply paused all Court deadlines until President Trump is out of office.

Here’s the announcement live on Fox News:

Fox News had more details on this story:

The Manhattan judge overseeing President-elect Donald Trump’s trial agreed to grant a stay on all deadlines associated with the felony conviction proceedings against Trump in the final months before he takes office, a closely-watched decision that allows Trump to avoid a maximum sentence of up to four years in prison.

The judge overseeing the case, Judge Juan Merchan, granted the request, which issues a stay on all deadlines, including the Nov. 26 sentencing date, to consider the effect of his election as president.

Prosecutors had asked for the pause in proceedings, which they said would allow them to better evaluate the impact of Trump’s new status as president-elect.

“The People agree that these are unprecedented circumstances,” prosecutor Matthew Colangelo said in a letter to Judge Merchan.

Trump’s attorneys, who had filed a motion to vacate the charges completely, also backed the stay.

Trump was convicted in May by a Manhattan jury on 34 counts of falsifying business records, stemming from a case about payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels.

Merchan agreed earlier this year to a four-month delay for the court proceedings, pushing next steps until after the 2024 presidential election.

He had set Nov. 12 as a self-imposed deadline to decide how best to proceed.

The decision comes after the Supreme Court said in a July 1 ruling that presidents should enjoy presumptive immunity from criminal prosecution for most actions taken as president.

Justices writing for a 4-3 majority said that presidents are entitled to absolute immunity from any actions taken within the scope of “core constitutional powers” as commander-in-chief.

A presumption of immunity also applies to other actions taken while holding office, they said.

It is not clear whether a president is to be afforded the same level of constitutional protections for state convictions, however, and the matter has never been tested in court.

Trump officials praised the pause in court proceedings Tuesday. Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung told Fox News Digital that the pause makes “abundantly clear that Americans want an immediate end to the weaponization of our justice system, including this case … so we can unify our country and work together for the betterment of our nation.”

The Nov. 12 deadline is separate from the sentencing hearing for the 34 convictions, which had previously been set for Nov. 26.

A couple things immediately jump out at me….

First, it seems as though this Judge does not want anyone looking at this case on appeal for a very long time, perhaps until he’s out of office.

Second, while the official New York Criminal Code says a criminal conviction is NOT formal until final adjudication and a sentence formally imposed, no doubt this will not stop MSNBC and CNN from referring to President Trump as a “convicted felon” for the next 5 years:

Third, assuming President Trump serves his full second term, this case doesn’t see the light of day until January 2029, and at that point it just begins a long appeal process on the issue of Presidential Immunity, which remains undecided.

This is largely why Jack Smith dismissed his cases.

Fourth, perhaps more ominous, one of my first thoughts was that this is a very strange way to word it: “until President Trump is out of office.”

What could they have in store?

Another impeachment?

A removal from office?

Here is Fox News legal analyst Andy McCarthy breaking it all down and explaining how it’s a very cowardly move by Judge Merchan:

Here’s more, from CBS News:

President-elect Donald Trump’s criminal conviction lives on, at least for another week.

A New York judge on Tuesday deferred making an immediate decision on whether presidential immunity should have prevented jurors from seeing certain evidence at Trump’s trial this spring — and if the verdict should be tossed.

Justice Juan Merchan said he will rule next week on whether a July Supreme Court ruling granting Trump presidential immunity for official acts precludes a jury from finding him guilty after a criminal trial this spring.

Merchan did not directly address sentencing, which had been scheduled for Nov. 26.

A prosecutor for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg emailed Merchan Sunday night, saying Trump asked for a pause “based on the impact on this proceeding from the results of the Presidential election.”

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“The People agree that these are unprecedented circumstances,” wrote the prosecutor, Matthew Colangelo, who added there’s a need to balance the interests of “a jury verdict of guilt following trial that has the presumption of regularity; and the Office of the President.”

Trump lawyer Emil Bove followed up in his own email to Merchan, writing that a “stay, and dismissal, are necessary to avoid unconstitutional impediments to President Trump’s ability to govern.”

The long-awaited ruling, on whether evidence shown at trial should have been shielded from jurors, due to presidential immunity, could have profound consequences for the case.

Trump was the first former president ever to be convicted of crimes. On Nov. 5, he also became the first person with a criminal record ever to be elected president.

Trump’s lawyers vowed the day a unanimous jury found him guilty of felonies in May to fight his conviction. They were given an extraordinary opportunity not long after when the Supreme Court ruled former presidents are immune from prosecution for official acts. The decision said evidence related to Trump’s work as president could not be used at trial.

Trump’s legal team, which is led by Todd Blanche, seized on the landmark ruling, demanding Trump’s conviction be set aside, and his sentencing canceled. They argued jurors should never have heard testimony related to Trump’s communications with former White House communications director Hope Hicks, or his former executive assistant and director of White House Operations Madeleine Westerhout.

The ruling is being panned by BOTH sides….

With many saying the case should have simply been dismissed:

But others decried “justice was broken” because President Trump wasn’t immediately locked up today:

Meanwhile, never forget exactly who Judge Merchan is and how he got this case seemingly against all odds:

This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport.

View the original article here.


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