Six years after the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office opened an investigation that allowed Donald Trump to become the first former president convicted of a crime, the case remains plagued by common pitfalls.
The most recent is Monday’s landmark Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity, which led to Tuesday’s sentencing in New York postponing Trump’s conviction.
“It’s not just a curveball, it’s a ball that broke 12-6,” said Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and a key witness in the case opposite him, referring to a baseball box that baffles hitters when it falls sharply. .
The Supreme Court ruled that former presidents enjoyed broad immunity for official acts and said evidence involving such acts simply cannot be used in prosecutions for unofficial activities. Shortly after the ruling was released Monday, Trump’s team sent a letter to New York Judge Juan Merchan. asking for permission to record a movement explaining why the verdict in the Trump case is overturned.
Merchan agreed to the request and pushed for Trump’s sentencing from July 11 to September 18 in this regard.
As the case enters a new phase, experts remain skeptical about the good fortune of Trump’s efforts to overturn his conviction.
“If he engaged in illegal conduct before he became president, it doesn’t seem to me that his efforts, when he was president, to cover up that conduct, will be immune from criminal liability,” said Bennett, a law professor at Pace University. Gershman, former New York City lawyer.
Trump’s lawyers said in their letter that their move would be based on evidence presented at trial similar to social media posts, public statements and testimony from his tenure. Much of this evidence is similar to what prosecutors described as a 2018 “pressure campaign” to save him. Cohen reveals incriminating facts about Trump.
“Michael is a businessman and lawyer that I have enjoyed and respected. Most people will change if the government allows them to get away with it, even if it means mendacity or making up stories,” Trump wrote in an April 2018 tweet. introduced as evidence.
Trump was found guilty in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records for signing an attempt to cover the reimbursement of a “hush money” payment to an adult film star while he was running for office in 2016.
CBS News legal analyst Rikki Klieman said the context and timing of this assignment cause Merchan to vacate the conviction.
“I don’t think the verdict will be overturned,” Klieman said. What is this case about?This is conduct prior to the U. S. presidency that was intended to influence the final results of the 2016 election. “
Gary Galperin, a professor at Cardozo Law School and a former Manhattan district attorney, said Merchan may simply conclude that some evidence has not been presented at trial and still refuse to overturn the verdict.
“If there is enough evidence beyond the ‘official acts’ for conviction, then it would be what the courts call a ‘harmless error,'” Galperin said. “No trial is perfect. And the criminal justice formula does not anticipate or expect perfection. “
If Merchan concludes that enough evidence and testimony similar to official acts was presented at trial to warrant overturning the verdict, he will most likely point to “the precise evidence” that violated the Supreme Court’s opinion, Klieman said.
Prosecutors can simply use Merchan’s findings as a consultant if they wish to seek another trial.
“Should this ruling be overturned, I would expect the government to retry the case and exclude evidence that Justice Merchan believes may simply be a violation of the Supreme Court’s ruling,” Klieman said.
Cohen said it happened to him Tuesday night that he might be invited to testify against Trump in a new trial.
As a former Trump lawyer and organizer, and now a vocal critic, Cohen faced four days of scrutiny and murder at trial. Trump’s lawyers portrayed him as a serial liar and decided to get revenge on the former president, while we built a new celebrity career. through effort.
Would he be in a position to relive this?
“As to whether or not I would testify again, I’m going to take that into account,” Cohen said. “I’ll tell you when the time comes. “