A New York state judge on Tuesday (Nov 12) halted proceedings in the hush money trial case involving US presidential election winner Donald Trump, documents show. The charges stemmed from hush money allegedly paid to a porn star.
Juan Merchan, the judge overseeing the case, had given himself the Nov 12 deadline to decide whether Trump’s conviction could be vacated due to the Supreme Court’s July decision on presidential immunity. Trump had also been scheduled to be sentenced on Nov 26.
Now, the proceedings have been halted till Nov 19.
The judge made the decision following a recommendation from the office of the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, who referred to Trump’s victory in 2024 elections. Trump earlier had asked Bragg to agree to the delay.
Earlier this year, the US Supreme Court ruled that Trump can’t be prosecuted for actions that were within his constitutional powers as president in a landmark decision recognising for the first time any form of presidential immunity from prosecution.
“We conclude that under our constitutional structure of separated powers, the nature of presidential power requires that a former president have some immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts during his tenure in office,” the top court had said.
US President Joe Biden had slammed the ruling, saying it sets a wrong and dangerous precedent.
“This nation was founded on the principle that there are no kings in America … no one is above the law, not even the president of the United States,” said Biden.
The 78-year-old is facing up to four years in prison after being convicted of 34 counts of felony for making hush payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Now legal experts are saying Trump won’t have a hard time in getting these convictions nullified as he would be occupying the highest office in the country for the next four years.