Trump’s sentencing over payments to former porn star Stormy Daniels has been delayed indefinitely following a decision by a New York judge on Friday.
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Donald Trump’s sentencing has been delayed indefinitelyCredit: AFP
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Manhattan District Attorney Alvin BraggCredit: AP
Trump’s legal team are now looking to dismiss the case entirelyCredit: AP
But David Gelman, the founding attorney of New Jersey-based Gelman Law, LLC, told The U.S. Sun the New York hush-money case needed to be dismissed completely.
The president-elect was facing four years in prison over payments made by his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, to adult film actress Daniels to cover up an affair she alleges the pair had in 2016.
Trump has denied the affair.
Earlier this week, prosecuting attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, accepted that any sentencing was unlikely in the wake of Trump’s election victory.
However, he said that Trump could still face sentencing following the conclusion of his second term, in 2029, by which time he would 83.
“It’s very petty,” Gelman said. “When President Trump is out of office, he would be 83.”
“It’s really an injustice what they’re doing. Honestly, it’s a mockery of the criminal justice system.”
Gelman said there is a presumption against non-incarceration for Trump because he has never been charged or convicted of a crime.
“It’s very uncharted territory because you’ve never had a president be charged criminally,” he said.
“Furthermore, I think it’s also a due process violation to wait until 2029.”
By 2029, Gelman said, we will be living in a “whole other world.”
“Who knows if Alvin Bragg will even be the DA in 2029?” he said.
“Who knows if Judge Merchan will even be the judge in 2029? I would venture to guess no for both.”
Gelman called on Judge Merchan to “do the right thing for once” by “dismissing this case in its entirety.”
Attention now turns to December 2, the date by which Trump’s lawyers must submit the additional papers as part of their argument that the case should be dismissed.
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The case followed claims by adult star Stormy DanielsCredit: Getty Images – Getty
TRUMP’S LEGAL WOES
LEADING Florida-based trial attorney Betty Dunkum spoke to The U.S. Sun about what the delay in Trump’s hush-money case in New York could mean.
“There are a lot of legal issues, called immunities, that affect the President and even the President-elect during the transition.
“Those immunities extend to things like Presidents, need to be free to conduct presidential business, and cannot be hindered by prosecutions, and so the law in layman’s terms prevents prosecutors from bringing or continuing cases during a president’s time in office.
“The Trump team is going to move to completely dismiss the case. That will obviously be briefed and worked out as the months go on.
“In terms of his second term in office in terms of the policies and what he is going to be doing, he had an agenda that he was already setting forth through the executive orders. So that policy will continue. I think the way it impacts Trump is more personally.
“Whether or not this case will now be heard in 2029, that is bumping up against some United States case law. There is case law from New York and other jurisdictions governing the delay in sentencing.
“And there is old case law saying that if there is an unreasonable delay in sentencing, then the court could lose its jurisdiction over the case. Everything related to what’s going on with Donald Trump in these criminal cases is new in the legal system. It’s never happened before, and so judges are always very careful about when they branch into new territory.
“Generally, they want to always try to stand on as many prior decisions as possible, and so, because there is so much new here. There are a lot of issues that are what we call in legal terms issues of first impression. So it complicates things.
“This case is not over until it’s over. There’s just a lot of bumps in the road for those prosecutions, because Trump is president now, and everything will need to be delayed.”
Gelman believes Trump’s next legal move will be to “file a motion to dismiss the matter altogether.”
For reasons of “judicial economy,” as well as the fact Trump would have had immunity at the time of the charges, Gelman says Trump’s team will push for dismissal.
As for the impact of the outstanding sentencing on Trump’s second term, Gelman said it will be “Nothing. Literally, absolutely, 100% nothing.”
He described the entire case as “100% politically motivated,” with the goal to “keep President Trump off of the campaign trail.”
Gelman said the move had “totally backfired” thanks to Trump’s landslide victory over Harris.
“He won the electoral college, he won the popular vote, and it wasn’t even close,” he said.
“So, the American people saw that this was a weaponization of the DOJ against President Trump.”
Gelman went on, “It was a weaponization by Alvin Bragg’s office against President Trump.
“And by what they’re doing now is they’re doubling down because they have egg on their face.”
