Judge rejects Trump’s motion to overturn porn star bribery conviction

In New York, Judge Juan Merchan rejected US President-elect Donald Trump’s request to overturn his conviction in the bribery case of porn star Stormy Daniels.

The New York judge made the corresponding decision, despite the decision of the US Supreme Court on broad presidential immunity, CNN reports.

Merchan’s decision thus rejected one of several avenues taken by Trump’s lawyers to try to overturn the May verdict finding Trump guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records.

Merchan wrote that the Supreme Court’s decision that Trump should receive broad immunity for official acts while in office does not mean the conviction should be overturned and accepted that the evidence presented by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office did not involve official conduct Trump as President.

According to the judge, the evidence disputed by the lawyers “relates entirely to unofficial conduct” and should not be covered by immunity.

The court concluded that if there was an error in the presentation of the evidence under appeal, it was harmless in light of the overwhelming amount of evidence of guilt, Merchan emphasized.

Even if the court were to conclude that the evidence at issue constituted official action under the auspices of Trump’s decision, which it did not, the defendant’s motion would still be denied because the presentation of the evidence at issue was a harmless error and no procedural error occurred, he added. .

Trump transition spokesman Stephen Chung said Merchan’s decision “is a direct violation of the Supreme Court’s ruling on immunity and other long-standing jurisprudence.”

Trump’s lawyers are likely to appeal Merchan’s decision, one of several potential motions to dismiss the case that could delay the case for months or even years.

Merchan also still must rule on Trump’s argument that his status as president is a “legal impediment” to further criminal proceedings and that the case should be dismissed as a result.

Trump has yet to be sentenced after being convicted in May. Prosecutors have already agreed that the president-elect will not be convicted while he is in office, but the district attorney’s office argues that the conviction should stand despite the fact that it was handed down in May.

While the sentence could be delayed or changed, completely overturning the jury’s conviction would be an unjustified “last resort,” prosecutors said.

Let us recall that in May of this year, a Manhattan jury found Trump guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records for payments to his then-lawyer Michael Cohen to reimburse $130,000. paid to porn star Stormy Daniels to keep her quiet about their relationship before the 2016 presidential election.

The US Supreme Court subsequently ruled that Trump could claim “certain immunity” from prosecution for actions he committed during his presidency.

Source: CNN

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David

I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.