Manhattan DA Defers to Judge on Delaying Trump’s Sentencing Date

(Left) Judge Juan M. Merchan on March 14, 2024. (Right) Former President Donald Trump on April 26, 2024. Seth Wenig/AP Photo; Dave Sanders/Pool via Getty Images

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office said it will defer to a New York judge regarding former President Donald Trump’s request to delay his criminal case sentencing until after the presidential election this year.

Bragg’s office, in a letter received by the court on Aug. 19, wrote that prosecutors will leave it up to Judge Juan Merchan to decide whether Trump’s sentencing in his New York case should be delayed beyond the current Sept. 18 hearing date.

Trump’s attorneys last week asked the judge to postpone his sentencing until after the November election because he is the leading Republican candidate for president. Prosecutors did not specifically oppose the former president’s request for a delay.

Prosecutors wrote in their letter: “Given the defense’s newly stated position, we defer to the Court on whether an adjournment is warranted to allow for orderly appellate litigation of that question, or to reduce the risk of a disruptive stay from an appellate court pending consideration of that question.

“The People are prepared to appear for sentencing on any future date the Court sets.”

In their request for a delay, Trump’s lawyers last week wrote to the judge that the sentencing should take place after the start of early voting for the election, saying the timing would harm the proceedings.

“Sentencing is currently scheduled to occur after the commencement of early voting in the Presidential election,” Trump attorney Todd Blanche wrote. “By adjourning the sentencing until after that election—which is of paramount importance to the entire Nation, including tens of millions of people who do not share the views of Authentic, its executives, and its clients—the Court would reduce, even if not eliminate, issues regarding the integrity of any future proceedings.”

They also argued there was not enough time before the sentencing for the defense to potentially appeal Merchan’s ruling on Trump’s request to overturn the conviction because of the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling on presidential immunity.

The Supreme Court’s 6–3 decision, which related to a separate criminal case Trump faces, found that presidents cannot be criminally prosecuted for their official acts and that evidence of presidents’ official actions cannot be used to help prove criminal cases involving unofficial actions.

Bragg’s office responded by saying that prosecutors will also not take a position, leaving it to Merchan to decide.

In their letter, prosecutors said the prospect that Trump immediately appeals the judge’s decision on immunity may mean a potential Sept. 18 sentencing would be delayed anyway after “significant public safety and logistical steps” were already taken to prepare for Trump’s court appearance.

In May, a Manhattan jury found Trump guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records before Merchan set a July 11 sentencing date. The judge later postponed it to Sept. 18, and last month, he said he would rule on Trump’s immunity claim on Sept. 16.

During the six-week-long trial, prosecutors said that Trump criminally concealed payments to prevent an adult performer, Stephanie Clifford, from going public about an alleged affair that she said occurred in 2006, which the former president has categorically denied. They further argued that the concealing of the payments was designed to affect the 2016 election with the intent to violate election laws.

Trump faces criminal charges in two other jurisdictions—one in Fulton County, Georgia, and the other in Washington—for alleged election interference after the 2020 election. His classified records case was dismissed by a federal judge last month, although Jack Smith, the special counsel who brought that case and the Washington one, has vowed to appeal the judge’s decision.

The Fulton County election case, meanwhile, has been postponed as Trump and several co-defendants have appealed a Fulton County judge’s decision that allowed District Attorney Fani Willis to remain on the case amid allegations of impropriety. His Washington case restarted several weeks ago after the Supreme Court’s immunity decision.

Trump pleaded not guilty to all of the charges, repeatedly saying they’re politically motivated and designed to harm his 2024 candidacy.

The May conviction was the first time in U.S. history that a current or former president was convicted of a felony crime. Earlier in August, Trump again attempted to have Merchan recuse himself from the case, which the judge denied.