Q: What will happen in the criminal case against Donald Trump in New York state after he is elected president?

A: Trump is scheduled to be sentenced on November 26, but the judge could decide that sentencing is no longer appropriate. If Trump does receive a verdict, it could be appealed or the verdict could be delayed until 2029, when Trump would no longer be in office.

COMPLETE QUESTION

What happens if Trump wins the election and then is convicted at the end of the month?

FULL ANSWER

President-elect Donald Trump is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 26 in Manhattan after being convicted in May on 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal election law violations stemming from an attempt to conceal an alleged extramarital affair hold. Judge Juan Merchan, who presided over Trump's trial in New York, has already postponed the verdict, originally scheduled for July 11, twice.

Now that Trump has been elected as the next US president, it is possible that he will not be convicted at all.

Ahead of Trump's sentencing hearing, Merchan is scheduled to decide on Nov. 12 whether to fully overturn the conviction. The basis for this is a request that Trump's legal team made following the Supreme Court's July 1 decision that presidents enjoy immunity for certain official acts during their term of office.

However, CNN has reported that Trump's lawyers plan to attempt to overturn the ruling before November 12 by filing a motion “arguing that as president-elect he is entitled to the same constitutional protections as a sitting president and will do so.” “should be protected from any measures taken by the public prosecutor.”

If either request is granted, the charges would be dismissed.

“But if the judge decides to uphold the verdict, the former president's lawyers are expected to ask Merchan to delay Trump's sentencing so they can appeal,” CNN said. “And if that is not granted, his lawyers plan to appeal the immunity decision to state appeals courts and possibly even the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the courts to delay Trump's sentencing until all avenues of appeal have been exhausted, which could take months .”

If Merchan moves forward with sentencing, as we wrote, he has several options.

Trump could get a prison sentence, but that's unlikely, Cheryl Bader, a clinical associate professor of law at Fordham University School of Law, told us in a June interview.

For a first-time offender who is a low-level, non-violent offender and a person of advanced age, “under such circumstances there would be a relatively low chance of incarceration,” she said.

Other sentencing options include probation or a “conditional release” with conditions other than incarceration or probation. The “simplest” option, she said, could be for the judge to fine Trump.

“He didn't want to put his thumb on the scales during the election, but now that the election is over, it will be interesting to see whether Judge Merchan will feel an urge to turn to the political process, or whether he might do so as a “This is an opportunity for a judge to hold Trump accountable for his criminal behavior,” Bader said in an email to us on November 7.

If a prison sentence is imposed, the judge could order the sentence to be imposed after Trump completes his four-year term as president in 2029. The Trump team could also appeal against a graduated sentence.

But some legal experts don't see it that way.

“I don’t think any reasonable judge would convict the president-elect,” Jill Konviser, a retired New York trial judge, told Politico for a story that said “the sentencing hearing in the hush money case will almost certainly not happen becomes”.

And Greg Germain, a corporate lawyer and law professor at Syracuse University, told Newsweek that the hush money case needs to be “suspended” or stopped. “If Judge Merchan tries to move forward with the trial or even convict him, the Justice Department will step in and ultimately the Supreme Court will strike him down,” he was quoted as saying.

But Germain said he doesn't think the judge will try to convict Trump.

In contrast to the pending federal cases against him, Trump cannot pardon himself for state crimes.

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Sources

Bader, Cheryl, Clinical Associate Professor of Law at Fordham University School of Law. Email sent to FactCheck.org. November 7, 2024.

Farley, Robert et al. “Questions and Answers About Trump’s Criminal Conviction.” FactCheck.org. May 31, 2024.

O'Driscoll, Sean. “Supreme Court will 'strike down' hush money case against Donald Trump – lawyer.” Newsweek. November 7, 2024.

Order, Erica. “Trump is scheduled to be sentenced in three weeks. “That probably won’t happen.” Politically. November 6, 2024.

Cole, Devan et al. “What will happen to Trump's criminal and civil cases after he is re-elected?” CNN. November 6, 2024.

Reiss, Adam. “Judge delays Trump’s sentencing in hush money case until after November election.” NBC News. September 6, 2024.