Prosecutors suggested to a New York judge the possibility of sparing Donald Trump a prison sentence after his conviction in a porn star’s hush money case, but opposed dismissing the case.
In a court document made public this Tuesday (10), prosecutors from the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg asked Judge Juan Merchan to deny the president-elect’s request for dismissal.
Noting that many of Trump’s concerns involve the possibility of him being incarcerated, prosecutors noted that there is no requirement that Merchan sentence him to prison — and said the judge could conclude that presidential immunity from prosecution would require a sentence of non-incarceration. .
“This constitutional limitation on the range of available sentences would further diminish any impact on the defendant’s presidential decision-making, without going so far as to completely rule out the indictment and jury verdict,” prosecutors wrote.
Merchan has not said when he will rule on Trump’s request to dismiss the case.
Trump conviction for bribery
The lawsuit stemmed from a $130,000 payment that Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer, made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in exchange for her silence before the 2016 election about a sexual encounter she said she had. a decade earlier with the Republican. He denies that this happened.
In May, a Manhattan jury found Trump, 78, guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up the refund to Cohen. It was the first time that a US president — former or current president — was convicted or charged with a criminal offense.
Falsifying business records is punishable by up to four years in prison, but incarceration is not mandatory.
Before Trump’s victory in the Nov. 5 presidential election, legal experts told Reuters it was unlikely he would be sentenced to prison due to his lack of a criminal history and his advanced age, but that incarceration was not impossible.
In July, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, in a separate criminal case involving Trump, that presidents have broad immunity from criminal prosecution for official actions taken while in office and that evidence of official acts could not be used to prosecute a head of state. for personal acts.
Donald Trump’s lawyers argued that this meant the case should be dismissed because prosecutors used statements Trump made while president and testimony from his White House aides.
The document presented by Bragg’s office on Tuesday stated that the case involved “purely unofficial conduct”.
“Presidential immunity should protect a president’s official decision-making only while in office, not forever insulate the president from criminal liability — especially for his unofficial conduct,” prosecutors wrote.
Last month, Merchan indefinitely postponed Trump’s sentencing, which had been scheduled for Nov. 26, to give him a chance to request the dismissal.
In their document, prosecutors repeated the suggestion that Merchan postpone all proceedings — including sentencing — until Trump leaves the White House in January 2029.
Alternatively, they pointed out that a sentence of non-incarceration could minimize the impact of the case on Trump’s term.
In their motion to dismiss, Trump’s lawyers called the idea that sentencing could be delayed until after he leaves office “ridiculous.”
This content was originally published in Prosecutors suggest that Trump should not be sentenced to prison in the bribery case on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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