Trump Asks to Delay NY Case Sentencing, Citing New Jack Smith Indictment

(Left) Special counsel Jack Smith in Washington on Aug. 1, 2023. (Right) Former President Donald Trump in New York City on May 31, 2024. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images, Alex Wong/Getty Images

Attorneys for former President Donald Trump asked the New York judge overseeing his sentencing later this month to postpone the date or any “substantiate orders,” citing activity in Trump’s separate federal case.

The former president was convicted by a jury in May on 34 counts of falsifying business records. Judge Juan Merchan set a July 11 sentencing date but later postponed it to Sept. 18. The judge will decide on Sept. 16 whether to grant Trump’s request to set aside the jury’s verdict based on immunity claims.

In a letter to Merchan received by the court on Aug. 30, Trump’s attorneys asked that the judge hold off on issuing a sentencing decision before the November election, arguing that such a move would affect voting.

The attorneys made reference to special counsel Jack Smith’s reworked indictment in Trump’s election interference case issued in response to a U.S. Supreme Court opinion in July that found that presidents are immune from prosecution for their official acts.

“There is no good reason to sentence President Trump prior to November 5,” the letter states.

Trump’s lawyers said the sentencing is on a “needlessly accelerated timeline” compared with other special counsel-related cases that are addressing similar issues.

The special counsel’s office received a superseding indictment from a “new grand jury that had not previously heard evidence in this case,” the letter states.

Last week, Trump asked a federal court in Manhattan to take up his state criminal case after the Supreme Court’s decision, adding that the state court should not sentence him until that issue is resolved.

Trump’s attorneys argued in the letter to Merchan that his court should not make any “substantive orders” until the federal court renders its decision to move the case.

A notice posted on the federal court’s docket on Aug. 31 shows that the request was rejected as “deficient.” The court said it sent back the filing because attorneys did not include written permission from prosecutors or the court and failed to meet other requirements.

Prosecutors have not opposed Trump’s attempts to push back the sentencing date. A letter issued by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office in August indicated that he will defer to the judge.

Previously, Trump’s attorneys told the judge that a September sentencing date would affect the presidential election, noting that early voting in some jurisdictions will have already begun. North Carolina is scheduled to send out its first general election mail ballots later this week, while other states will soon follow, according to state officials.

In May, Trump became the first current or former president to be convicted on felony charges. A jury found him guilty of falsifying business records to allegedly cover up payments to an adult film performer during the 2016 campaign, which Trump has denied.

Separately, Smith argued in August to a federal appeals court that Trump’s classified documents case should be revived after a federal judge dismissed the case earlier this summer. Smith said U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon made errors when she ruled that Smith was improperly appointed as special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland.