{"id":6538,"date":"2024-07-08T11:52:33","date_gmt":"2024-07-08T03:52:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=6538"},"modified":"2024-07-15T09:00:34","modified_gmt":"2024-07-15T01:00:34","slug":"supreme-court-immunity-decision-collides-with-trumps-ny-conviction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=6538","title":{"rendered":"Supreme Court immunity decision collides with Trump\u2019s NY conviction \u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Just one month after a New York jury made him the first former president convicted of a crime, the guilty verdict in former President Trump\u2019s hush money case is already in peril following a Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2019s highly anticipated criminal sentencing was set for next week, until his lawyers latched onto the new ruling as a potential reason to get the verdict tossed. Less than 48 hours after the Supreme Court handed down their decision, Judge Juan Merchan slammed the brakes, delaying the sentencing until September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it will only move forward \u201cif such is still necessary,\u201d Merchan cautioned in Tuesday\u2019s announcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Supreme Court found former presidents enjoy at least presumptive criminal immunity for all official acts, handing Trump one of his biggest legal victories yet in his criminal prosecutions. It all but certainly enables him to avoid trial on any of his remaining charges before November\u2019s election, when he hopes to retake the White House and grind his cases to a halt.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps just as notably, the ruling provides Trump with new ammo in his efforts to wipe his only criminal conviction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe biggest hurdle is that the Supreme Court has set up a presumption, which puts a burden on the prosecutor. But it\u2019s not an insurmountable burden,\u201d said Cheryl Bader, a former federal prosecutor and law professor at Fordham University.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In May, a New York jury found Trump guilty on all counts for lying in New York business records to cover up a $130,000 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels in October 2016 with an intent to unlawfully influence that year\u2019s presidential election.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump does not claim immunity from the actual 34 counts of falsifying business records he faced, but he instead has zeroed in on trial evidence used to prove those counts. The former president contends that the jury\u2019s verdict must be tossed out because some evidence shown to jurors is now inadmissible under the Supreme Court\u2019s new test.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chief Justice John Roberts, joined by four of his fellow justices, made clear in Monday\u2019s decision that official acts can\u2019t be used as evidence, even if the charges are rooted in unofficial conduct.John Roberts, joined by four of his fellow justices, made clear in Monday\u2019s decision that official acts can\u2019t be used as evidence, even if the charges are rooted in unofficial conduct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAllowing prosecutors to ask or suggest that the jury probe official acts for which the President is immune would thus raise a unique risk that the jurors\u2019 deliberations will be prejudiced by their views of the President\u2019s policies and performance while in office,\u201d Roberts wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He did caution, however, that \u201cof course the prosecutor may point to the public record to show the fact that the President performed the official act.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2019s team says Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) improperly brought in an array of official acts as evidence, including Trump\u2019s call records, social media posts, government ethics form and key testimony from a trusted aide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attorneys Todd Blanche and Emil Bove wrote to the judge that according to the Supreme Court\u2019s decision, \u201cthis official-acts evidence should never have been put before the jury.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In particular, the former president\u2019s team cites social media posts written during Trump\u2019s presidency and shown to jurors in which Trump attacks Michael Cohen, prosecutors\u2019 star trial witness.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Supreme Court\u2019s decision, Roberts noted that \u201cmost of a President\u2019s public communications are likely to fall comfortably\u201d within his official responsibilities.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere may, however, be contexts in which the President, notwithstanding the prominence of his position, speaks in an unofficial capacity \u2014 perhaps as a candidate for office or party leader,\u201d Roberts cautioned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other evidence in question includes call records between Trump and Cohen, while Trump was president; a government ethics form where Trump in 2018 referenced the hush money arrangement; and testimony from ex-Trump adviser Hope Hicks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeffrey Cohen, a former federal prosecutor and associate professor at Boston College Law School, said Hicks\u2019s testimony, in particular, could give some pause if her conversations with Trump were had in his official capacity and the public would not generally have had access to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo then the question is: How crucial was Hope \u2014 those statements to Hope Hicks \u2014 to the conviction,\u201d Cohen said.  Hope Hicks \u2014 to the conviction,\u201d Cohen said.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hicks testified to her role as a fixture in Trump\u2019s inner orbit during his 2016 campaign as scandal repeatedly rocked his efforts to take the White House. She also testified about a conversation she had with Trump in 2018, where he indicated Michael Cohen paid Daniels out of the goodness of his heart, which she questioned, and that it was a good thing the story of that payment broke after he won the election. She broke down on the witness stand shortly after.  Michael Cohen paid Daniels out of the goodness of his heart, which she questioned, and that it was a good thing the story of that payment broke after he won the election. She broke down on the witness stand shortly after.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In their closing remarks, prosecutors called Hicks\u2019s testimony against her former boss \u201cdevastating,\u201d suggesting it \u201cputs the nail in Mr. Trump\u2019s coffin\u201d \u2014 which could come back to haunt them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe fact that that the government used it in their closing arguments, or the extent that the government relied on it when making arguments to the jury, will factor into the court\u2019s consideration of how important that evidence was, because the court will assume that the government presents its strongest evidence in its closing argument,\u201d Cohen said.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2019s attorneys have until July 10 to make their arguments to Merchan that the \u201ctrial result cannot stand.\u201d Prosecutors say those arguments are \u201cwithout merit,\u201d but did not object to the delay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Merchan previously rejected the defense as untimely when Trump attempted to raise it just prior to trial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier in the case, the former president waived the defense when mounting a later-abandoned effort to move the case from state court to federal court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t see the immunity ruling having really any impact on the verdict,\u201d Bader said. \u201cEven under the Supreme Court\u2019s sweeping grant of immunity, falsified private business records to pay off a porn star will not fall within even the outer parameters of official presidential duties.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s the outer stratosphere of any presidential responsibility,\u201d she added.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Just one month after a New York jury made him the first former president convicted of a crime, the guilty verdict in former President Trump\u2019s hush money case is already in peril following a Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity.   Trump\u2019s highly anticipated criminal sentencing was set for next week, until his lawyers latched […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":6539,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[61],"class_list":["post-6538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-usa","tag-usa"],"yoast_head":"\nSupreme Court immunity decision collides with Trump\u2019s NY conviction \u00a0 - LISTEN WORLD<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=6538\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Supreme Court immunity decision collides with Trump\u2019s NY conviction \u00a0 - 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