Former President Donald Trump is on trial in New York, where he faces criminal charges similar to the 2016 secret payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. This is the first time in history that a former U. S. president has been tried on criminal charges.
Last April, Trump pleaded not guilty to a 34-count indictment accusing him of tampering with business records in connection with a secret cash payment his then-lawyer, Michael Cohen, had made to Daniels to improve her electoral chances in the 2016 presidential election.
READ MORE: Here’s what you want to know about this landmark case.
In a written order, Judge Juan Merchán denied a move by the defense to sanction the prosecutors for the presentation of evidence in arrears in the case prior to this year.
In March, former President Trump’s lawyers asked Judge Merchan to discipline prosecutors and postpone the trial after federal prosecutors turned over more than 100,000 pages of evidence just before trial. Defense attorneys argued that prosecutors engaged in “widespread misconduct, adding evidence to suppress” and sought to interfere with the 2024 election.
After an in-person hearing on March 25, Merchan rejected the request for a postponement of the trial and vowed to abide by a written decision, which he issued today.
“This court found that the defendant would suffer some prejudice as a result of the filing of the documents in question, as he had a moderate amount of time to prepare for and respond to the documents,” the order reads.
The New York Appellate Division upheld Judge Juan Merchán’s decision to recuse himself from former President Trump’s secret money case.
Trump’s defense team had called for Merchan’s recusal of his daughter’s paintings for a consulting firm with Democratic clients.
An appeals panel ruled that Trump had not shown that the ruling had exceeded its authority in denying a motion to disqualify the defense.
“The petitioner has not identified that the court exceeded its jurisdiction in dismissing his application,” today’s order states. “Nor has the petitioner identified that he had a transparent right of recusal. “
The judges also found that the defense’s appeal was procedurally flawed, as they waited too long to appeal Merchan’s August 2023 recusal order and then rushed to the Appellate Division before Merchan ruled on his maxim. recent impeachment motion.
The appeals court also upheld Merchan’s ruling, rejecting Trump’s argument that some of his social media posts were due to presidential immunity.
The appeals court said Trump could file either appeal in his overall appeal of the verdict if convicted.
The court also rejected Trump’s request to replace the trial site, which Trump had requested before it began last month.
The former president continuously criticized Judge Merchán for being “in conflict” with the trial.
Donald Trump said Wednesday that he did not speak at his secret trial because he disagreed with the judge’s rulings and because he gave the impression of being involved in data that could have been leaked on cross-examination.
“He has made decisions that make testifying very complicated,” Trump said in an interview with WABC radio, referring to Judge Juan Merchan. “Everything I’ve done, everything I’ve done in the afterlife, can evoke everything, and you know what, I’ve had a wonderful afterlife, but anything. “
“The other explanation is that they don’t have any records,” Trump said. “In other words, why. . . Why testify when they have no record?”
Trump had first indicated that he would testify, noting on April 12 that he would “testify, absolutely. “But then he appeared to shy away from that idea, falsely telling reporters on May 2 that the limited gag order in the case, which prohibits extrajudicial statements by witnesses and jurors, prevented him from testifying.
The next day in court, Judge Merchan addressed Trump directly, clarifying that he had an “absolute right” to testify and that the limited gag order applied to his statements in court.
“I need to emphasize, Mr. Trump, that you have an absolute right to testify at trial, if that’s what you should do after consulting with your lawyers,” Merchan said.
-Lalee Ibssa, then Rin Kim and Kelsey Walsh
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass, at the end of the afternoon pre-prosecution conference, argued that jury orders come with the fact that engagement contracts are a legal requirement for lawyers to begin applying for a client.
Prosecutors argued that Trump falsified the records because he characterized the reimbursement of Michael Cohen’s hush money as legal fees pursuant to a service commitment. Defense attorneys argued that Cohen had been paid through the company for years and never had a term agreement with Trump. or sometime one.
“It’s the law,” Steinglass said of the requirement to have a warrant.
“We don’t know, that’s true, judge,” replied defense attorney Emil Bove.
Judge Juan Merchan said he would review the rules before making a decision.
The judge then ended the conference and told the attorneys that he would work to provide them with final jury orders until the end of Thursday so they could prepare over the weekend, before the jury receives the case next week.
Discussions will resume on Tuesday morning with the summaries.