The Supreme Court of the United States of America refused, this Thursday, a request from Donald Trump to prevent the sentencing, scheduled for this Friday, of the President-elect in the case in which he was found guilty of financial crimes to hide a payment of money to pornographic actress Stormy Daniels in the final weeks of the 2016 campaign.
The court denied Trump’s emergency request in a 5-4 decision, in which two conservative justices (John Roberts and Amy Coney Barrett) joined the three liberal justices in rejecting the motion — delivered shortly after a New York Court of Appeal refused to suspend the reading of the sentencealso this Thursday.
The short ruling states that “alleged evidentiary violations” can be resolved in a normal appeal, and that the “burden that the sentence will impose on the responsibilities of the President-elect is relatively secondary in light of the court’s stated intention to impose a sentence” without prison sentence “after a brief virtual hearing”.
Donald Trump could be sentenced to up to four years in prison, but Judge Juan Merchan indicated in early January that he would opt for an “unconditional” modality that avoids prison, fines and conditional sentences, but puts a conviction on Trump’s record.
Trump’s lawyers argue that the evidence used in the Manhattan trial violated the 2023 Supreme Court ruling, which gave Trump broad immunity from prosecution for actions he took as President in his first term. At the very least, the lawyers said, the sentencing should be delayed while his appeals on the immunity issue are heard.
The judges in New York concluded that Trump’s convictions were related to personal matters and not the official presidential matter, which is the heart of the Supreme Court’s decision. Prosecutors argue that Trump’s allegations are not strong enough to overturn his conviction and that their appeal should not freeze the case because it deals with evidence rather than the main charges.
The charges involve an alleged scheme to conceal a payment of money to pornographic actress Stormy Daniels in the final weeks of Trump’s 2016 campaign to prevent her from publicizing allegations of having had sexual relations with the then-businessman years earlier.
Trump claims the story is false and that he did nothing wrong. Trump’s sentencing was initially scheduled for July 11 and then postponed twice at the request of the defense.
Source: rr.sapo.pt
