Former US President Donald Trump’s lawyers on Monday asked the New York judge who presided over his hush money trial to set aside his conviction and delay his sentencing, scheduled for later this month, The Associated Press reports.
The letter to Judge Juan M. Merchan cited the US Supreme Court’s ruling from earlier Monday and asked the judge to delay Trump’s sentencing while he weighs the high court’s decision and how it could influence the New York case.
Trump’s lawyers argue that the Supreme Court’s decision confirmed a position the defense raised earlier in the case that prosecutors should have been precluded from introducing some evidence they said constituted official presidential acts, according to the letter.
The letter comes after the Supreme Court ruled for the first time that former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution, extending the delay in the Washington criminal case against Trump on charges he plotted to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss.
Trump was found guilty in May of falsifying business records in the hush money trial being held in New York.
The 12-person jury found Trump guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment to adult film actor Stormy Daniels near the end of the 2016 presidential campaign.
The sentencing is scheduled for July 11.
Trump later said the verdict “was very unfair... You saw what happened to some of the witnesses that were on our side -- they were literally crucified."
He vowed to challenge his conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records, declaring "we're going to be appealing this scam... on many different things."