Donald Trump’s sentencing in his Manhattan hush money trial was postponed to September after prosecutors agreed Tuesday that the historic event should be delayed in light of the US Supreme Court’s ruling granting presidents immunity for “official acts.”
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan approved prosecutors’ request to push back the July 11 sentencing in the felony fudging business records case so that he can rule on Trump’s claim that prosecutors inappropriately used trial evidence from the former president’s time in the White House.
Merchan said he would make a decision on if and how the immunity ruling affects the case by Sept. 6, and that the sentencing would take place Sept. 18 “if .. still necessary.”
Trump, 78, faces up to four years in prison, but could also be handed probation or community service, after a Manhattan jury convicted him May 30 of covering up a $130,000 payout to porn star Stormy Daniels to hide alleged details of a sexual encounter from voters before the 2016 presidential election.
Merchan’s ruling came after prosecutors — writing that they believe Trump’s arguments are “without merit”” — nonetheless agreed earlier Tuesday that the sentencing should be delayed while the court rules on the ex-president’s claim that jurors should not have heard trial evidence from Trump’s time in the Oval Office.
The delay means that Trump’s penalty in the case will remain up in the air until after he formally wins the GOP nomination at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, which starts on July 15.
