Attorneys for former President Donald Trump have filed yet another appeal in the New York criminal case heading to trial on April 15, after judges with the appellate division swiftly denied two requests this week to delay the trial.
New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan recently issued several rulings as the trial date is fast approaching, and defense attorneys appear to be appealing each one.
The judge is presiding over a case that charges President Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records, which the Manhattan District Attorney alleges is tied to a “hush money” payment scheme to kill negative news stories during the 2016 presidential election cycle.
The appeals will be heard before an appellate division panel of judges in the New York Supreme Court, but judges ruled in emergency hearings on April 8 and April 9 that these pending appeals will not pause the upcoming trial.
The April 8 rejection was tied to a change of venue request. Defense attorneys had argued that President Trump would not be able to seat an impartial jury in heavily Democrat-leaning Manhattan. The judge found that jurors’ personal political beliefs are not disqualifying factors unless they are unable to act without bias.
The April 9 ruling was related to a gag order that Justice Merchan issued, prohibiting President Trump from making statements about several parties involved in the case.
The defense argued that defendants have a strong First Amendment right to criticize the government for what they believe is a politically-motivated prosecution, and that the gag order covers high-profile witnesses like former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, who routinely criticizes President Trump on air.
The April 10 appeal deals with presidential immunity, which is a defense that President Trump has raised in several cases. He has been criminally indicted in four separate jurisdictions, and has argued that presidents have absolute immunity for acts of office.
In the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, he filed a motion to dismiss a case charging him for his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, based on presidential immunity. After the trial court judge rejected the motion, attorneys appealed it to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Defense counsel in the Manhattan case had argued to postpone trial until this defense has been reviewed by the Supreme Court, which has scheduled oral arguments for April 25, and to hold a hearing after the high court issues its decision.
Some of the evidence that prosecutors will present at trial relates to a 2018 alleged “pressure campaign” as a reason why Mr. Cohen had not revealed the alleged bribery scheme earlier. Defense attorneys argued that some evidence may not be permissible if presidential immunity applies.
The judge dismissed these arguments when defense attorneys referenced them verbally during a March 25 scheduling conference when he set the April 15 trial date. He rejected them again when defense attorneys filed a formal motion, finding the timing of it suspect.
Justice Merchan still has a motion for recusal before him. The judge has already declined once to step down from the case and in recent rulings wrote that the defense’s legal arguments do not seem credible given their repeated requests for a delay and he may yet reject the motion on this basis as well.
The defense is likely then to file a fourth appeal if this is the case, and request a stay of proceedings as the motion pertains to whether the judge can continue to try the case.
