Judge in Trump’s trial over journalist silencing delays sentencing following Supreme Court ruling on immunity

The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s criminal trial in New York on Tuesday approved a delay in the former president’s sentencing after his lawyers asked for more time to argue that the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling calls for a new trial.

The sentencing hearing, originally scheduled for July 11, will now take place on September 18 at the earliest, according to a letter posted on the court docket.

The delay ensures that Trump will not be convicted until he is officially inaugurated as president at the Republican National Convention, which begins July 15, and the conviction will come less than two months before the presidential election.

Trump’s team moved quickly to capitalize on the Supreme Court’s decision Monday, sending a letter to Merchan asking him to advise him of the impact of the decision on his conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records. In a letter sent Tuesday, prosecutors said they were not opposed to delaying the sentencing hearing, though they said they believed the attempt to overturn the verdict was “without merit.”

The Manhattan jury convicted Trump of crimes that would normally be considered misdemeanors but were upgraded to felonies in this case. Prosecutors argued that he falsified his internal business records while serving in the White House to cover up the fact that, as president-elect, he ordered his former lawyer Michael Cohen to pay adult film star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election.

In a letter to the judge Monday, Trump’s team argued that prosecutors improperly used evidence of his “official acts” at trial, which are now considered immune acts and prohibited under the Supreme Court’s new ruling. The justices concluded that while presidents do not enjoy immunity for “unofficial” acts that do not involve core presidential functions, prosecutors cannot use evidence or testimony about official acts to prosecute unofficial acts.

For Merchan, the crux of the issue now is whether certain evidence, such as testimony from former Trump aide Hope Hicks describing a conversation she had with Trump while he was president, is barred. If so, a new trial could be necessary, unless the judge finds that the error was harmless because Trump would still have been convicted.

Merchan approved the sentencing delay in a letter Tuesday to Trump’s lawyers and prosecutors in Manhattan U.S. Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office, but Trump’s team may have a tough time getting through it. The judge quickly rejected their previous attempt to have the case dismissed on immunity grounds. He said he would issue a decision on the immunity ruling on Sept. 6.

Trump faces a range of penalties, including prison time, probation and a fine. Bragg, who filed the complaint against Trump, has not yet indicated what sentence he would seek.