#Juan M. Merchan

[diariodigitalnoticias]

Jurado inicia deliberaciones en histórico juicio penal contra Donald Trump en Nueva York

NUEVA YORK (DDN) – El destino jurídico del expresidente Donald Trump quedó en manos de un jurado el miércoles, luego de que el juez Juan M. Merchan les instruyera sobre la ley y los factores a considerar en sus deliberaciones para alcanzar un veredicto en el primer caso penal contra un exmandatario estadounidense. “No es mi responsabilidad juzgar la evidencia aquí. Es suya”, enfatizó el juez…

[allthegeopolitics]

New York’s top court on Tuesday declined to hear Donald Trump’s gag order appeal in his hush money case, leaving the restrictions in place following his felony conviction last month. The Court of Appeals found that the order does not raise “substantial” constitutional issues that would warrant an immediate intervention. The decision is the latest legal setback for the Republican former U.S. president, who has repeatedly railed against a gag order that prevents him from commenting on witnesses, jurors and others who were involved in the case. But it could be short lived. The trial judge, Juan M. Merchan, is expected to rule soon on a defense request to lift the gag order.

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[zenlesszonezero]

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[follow-up-news]

Donald Trump has lost his latest bid for a new judge in his New York hush money criminal case as it heads toward a key ruling and potential sentencing next month. In a decision posted Wednesday, Judge Juan M. Merchan declined to step aside and said Trump’s demand was a rehash “rife with inaccuracies and unsubstantiated claims” about his ability to remain impartial. It is the third time that Merchan has rejected such a request from lawyers for the former president and current Republican nominee.

[dertaglichedan]

Judge rejects Trump’s bid to toss hush money conviction because of Supreme Court immunity ruling

NEW YORK (AP) — A judge Monday refused to throw out President-elect Donald Trump’s hush money conviction because of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling on presidential immunity. But the overall future of the historic case remains unclear.

Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan’s decision blocks one potential off-ramp from the case ahead of the former and future president’s return to office next month. His lawyers have raised other arguments for dismissal, however. It’s unclear when — or whether — a sentencing date might be set.

Prosecutors have said there should be some accommodation for his upcoming presidency, but they insist the conviction should stand.

A jury convicted Trump in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records related to a $130,000 hush money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels in 2016. Trump denies wrongdoing.

[webntrmpt2x]

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/16/nyregion/trump-immunity-criminal-case.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

New York Times

Judge Denies Trump’s Bid to Throw Out Conviction Over Immunity Ruling

Justice Juan M. Merchan thwarted one of several attempts by Donald J. Trump to clear his record of 34 felonies before returning to the White House.

[irfan-555]

Judge Delays Trump’s Sentencing Until Nov. 26, After Election Day

The decision by Justice Juan M. Merchan means voters will be left in the dark about whether the former president will face time behind bars.

More details:

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Donald Trump is terrified by what has happened in court during his election-interference trial, during which eye witness after eye witness has testified to his sleaze, his lies, and his bullshit, none of which have been negated by any of the Lawyers Who Got Their License From A Box Of Cracker Jacks who form his crackerjack legal defense team.

To reassure himself that he is still Maximum Leader of the Confederate White People’s Treason Party, he has called his fellow traitors to come to New York and demonsrate their loyalty to him by speaking the lies he is no longer allowed to say himself.

This morning, House Speaker “MAGA Mike” Johnson came to New York to continue his assault on the U.S. judicial system, becoming the highest-ranking Republican to show up at court with Donald Trump and using his powerful position to attack the hush money case against the former president as an illegitimate “sham.”

Johnson’s appearance marked a truly “remarkable moment” in modern American politics: The House speaker publicly turning against the federal and state legal systems that are foundational to American government and a cornerstone of democracy.

Johnson, who is second in line for the presidency, called the court system “corrupt.”

Outside the New York courthouse, he decried “This ridiculous prosecution that is not about justice. It’s all about politics.” Johnson specifically attacked the credibility of Michael Cohen as “a man who is clearly on a mission for personal revenge;” claimed lead prosecutor Matthew Colangelo “recently received over $10,000 in payments from the Democratic National Committee;” and reiterated Trump’s attack on the daughter of Judge Juan M. Merchan as having made “millions of dollars” doing online fundraising for Democrats.

The speaker is leading a growing list of Republican lawmakers who criticize the judicial system as they rally to Trump’s side. They say what the Trump campaign tells them to say, which are the statements that got Trump ten counts of violating the gag order.

All of these are things Trump has said before, which were determined in court to be violations of the gag order imposed on him, for which he has been fined. Using the congressional toadies is Trump’s way of getting the word out while avoiding the possibility of ending up in a jail cell for further violation of the gag order.

With Trump stuck in court, Johnson and his fellow traitors are taking it on themselves to attack the proceedings, using the trial as a de facto campaign stop as they work to return the former president to the White House. In portraying the case against Trump as politically motivated, the Republicans are also laying the groundwork to dismiss its significance, should the jury convict, and for potential challenges to the fall election,.

Let us remember that Johnson - whose worthless ass was recently saved from defenestration by the Whackadoodle Caucus of the House GOP by the votes of Democrats - was a chief architect of Trump’s efforts to challenge the 2020 presidential results ahead of the January 6, 2021, mob assault on the U.S. Capitol.

Last week he called the hush money trial and the other election-year cases against Trump a “borderline criminal conspiracy.”

Today, outside of court in New York City - where he insisted he was appearing on his own to support a friend - he proclaimed, “It is election interference. And the American people are not going to let this stand.”

Unlike other Republicans who have shown up to bend their knee and show their support, Johnson did not enter the courtroom, instead departing as he dashed back to Washington to open the House chamber for the day.

Also in court with Trump on Tuesday were Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum - who are both considered possible VP candidates - as well as the Most Annoying Man In America, former GOP candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who is one of Trump’s current top surrogates. These poltroons followed Senators Jimmy Vance of Ohio and the Top Senate Moron, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, who appeared in court yesterday.

Over the weekend, Senator Skeletor, er, I mean Rick Scott - who was the first congressional traitor to show up in the “family row” in the courtroom last week - went on Faux Snooze and proclaimed, “The Democrats are using the court system to go after and prosecute, criminally, a political opponent - that’s a crime. They’re just thugs trying to stop Trump from being able to run for president.”

This morning, before court convened, with the group of congressional traitors gathered in the background, Trump said , “I do have a lot of surrogates, and they’re speaking very beautifully, and they come from all over Washington. And they’re highly respected, and they think this is the greatest scam they’ve ever seen.”

As usual, every Trump attack is a public confession: what he is accused of doing to get elected is the greatest scam anyone has ever seen.

In a departure from the tradition of trust and adherence in U.S. election systems, Johnson and other Republicans have refused to answer straightforwardly when asked if they will accept the election results of 2024.

That these treasonous scum wear the flag of the United States on their lapels and claim themselves “patriots” is enough to gag a maggot.

We are definitely no longer in Kansas, Toto, and the traitors are preparing the ground to start the civil war they have long hoped to see.

TCinLA

[meandmybigmouth]

Trump's Trial Ends Abruptly After He Makes Full Confession in His Sleep

NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report) – In a twist that surprised even the most hardened trial watchers, Donald J. Trump’s hush money trial came to a sudden conclusion on Wednesday after the defendant issued a full confession while soundly asleep.

Trump, who had been snoring vigorously all morning, began mumbling shortly after 10 a.m. despite Judge Juan M. Merchan’s admonishment that he quiet down.

His eyes still closed, the indicted businessman blurted, “I had sexual relationships with Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, then orchestrated an elaborate hush money conspiracy to corrupt the 2016 election.”

The courtroom was dumbfounded to hear Trump issue not only a complete confession but also a complete sentence, witnesses said.

As Trump’s head bobbed forward and he resumed snoring, his lawyers gathered their papers with an air of resignation and quietly filed out of the courtroom.

His lead attorney, Todd Blanche, was philosophical about the trial ending so prematurely, telling reporters, “We probably weren’t going to get paid anyway.”

Hilarious!

[newstodayread]

Trump’s lawyers allege juror misconduct in latest bid to get his hush money conviction dismissed

Trump's lawyers allege juror misconduct in an attempt to dismiss his hush money conviction, facing opposition from prosecutors who label the claims as unsupported. The Manhattan judge is tasked with evaluating these allegations while maintaining judicial integrity as Trump navigates the intersection of law and politics following his election victory. In a renewed effort to dismiss his hush money conviction, President Donald Trump’s legal team has accused jurors of misconduct. This assertion was presented in a court filing, where it was claimed that significant issues had compromised the integrity of the verdict. However, prosecutors dismissed these allegations as "unsworn, unsupported" hearsay, suggesting that the defense is attempting to undermine public trust in the judicial process. The Manhattan judge, Juan M. Merchan, is currently reviewing the defense request to dismiss the case while confirming that he will not entertain allegations devoid of substantial evidence. The defense claims, detailed in an unsworn letter to Judge Merchan, assert serious juror misconduct occurred during the trial proceedings. Although specific details were obscured from public view, the claims have drawn a strong response from Manhattan prosecutors, who argue that the defense should have submitted a formal motion rather than a letter. This situation unfolds as Judge Merchan deliberates whether to throw out the case, a matter made increasingly complex by Trump’s recent election victory. Moreover, Merchan has indicated that there is a clear need to comprehensively investigate any allegations of impropriety that may have affected the trial's outcome. Nonetheless, he emphasized that the court is unable to act on mere speculation and hearsay when assessing claims of juror misconduct. Trump's conviction, related to the concealment of a payment made prior to the 2016 election, stands amidst broader discussions about his attempts to leverage presidential immunity in this case.

This article addresses the legal challenges faced by President Donald Trump following his conviction for falsifying business records in connection to a hush money payment made to pornographic actress Stormy Daniels. The case, which has garnered national attention, raises significant questions about juror conduct and the implications of a legal proceeding involving a former president who is now set to take office again. The ongoing court battle reflects broader themes of judicial integrity, presidential privilege, and the interplay between the legal system and political power. Conclusion In conclusion, the legal saga surrounding President Trump's hush money conviction continues to evolve as his defense asserts juror misconduct in hopes of overturning the verdict. This claim, however, has been met with skepticism from prosecutors, who emphasize the necessity of a thorough and formal investigation. As the court deliberates on these allegations, the case highlights the challenges posed when legal proceedings intersect with political office, particularly regarding the former president's return to power. Read the full article

[leafatlas]

Judge Rejects Trump’s Bid to Toss Hush-Money Conviction

NEW YORK — A judge on Monday refused to impeach the president-elect Donald TrumpHush money conviction due to the US Supreme Court’s recent decision on presidential immunity. However, the overall future of the historic case remains uncertain. Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan’s ruling blocks a possible exit in the case before the former and future president returns to office next month. However, his…

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[ivankahasbeentreatedsounfairly]

By Ben Protess and Kate Christobek

A judge on Monday rejected Donald J. Trump’s argument that a recent Supreme Court ruling had nullified his criminal case in New York, upholding the former and future president’s felony conviction for falsifying records to cover up a sex scandal.

The judge’s ruling preserves, at least for now, the stain of Mr. Trump’s criminal conviction. And if the decision withstands an appeal, Mr. Trump could become the first felon to serve as president.

The ruling, which addressed the Supreme Court’s decision to grant presidents broad immunity for their official actions, thwarted only the first of several legal maneuvers Mr. Trump has concocted to clear his record of 34 felonies before returning to the White House.

Prosecutors had argued that the Supreme Court’s decision had “no bearing on this prosecution,” noting that Mr. Trump was convicted of orchestrating a scheme involving a personal and political crisis that predated his presidency.

But Mr. Trump’s lawyers seized on a particularly contentious portion of the high court’s ruling, which prohibited prosecutors from introducing evidence involving a president’s official acts even in a case about private misconduct. They argued that testimony from former White House employees had contaminated the verdict.

In the first significant interpretation of that polarizing opinion, the New York judge who oversaw the trial sided with prosecutors, concluding that the testimony centered on Mr. Trump’s unofficial conduct.

“The People’s use of these acts as evidence of the decidedly personal acts of falsifying business records poses no danger of intrusion on the authority and function of the executive branch,” the judge, Juan M. Merchan, wrote in a 41-page decision.

And even if the evidence was “admitted in error, such error was harmless,” he added, noting the “overwhelming evidence of guilt” introduced at trial.

A spokesman for Mr. Trump, Steven Cheung, criticized the ruling, calling it “a direct violation of the Supreme Court’s decision on immunity.”

“This lawless case should have never been brought, and the Constitution demands that it be immediately dismissed,” Mr. Cheung said.

A spokeswoman for the district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, declined to comment.

Justice Merchan will not have the final say on the immunity issue, and Mr. Trump can now appeal his ruling.

Even if Mr. Trump loses in New York’s appellate courts, he can ultimately take the matter to a friendlier venue: the Supreme Court, which has adopted an expansive view of presidential power and where the 6-to-3 conservative majority includes three justices he appointed during his first term.

And the matter of immunity is hardly Mr. Trump’s only path to unwinding his New York conviction. He has also sought to leverage his electoral victory to throw out the case, citing a 1963 law that enshrined the importance of a smooth transition into the presidency, and a longstanding Justice Department policy that states a sitting president cannot face federal criminal prosecution.

Even though the New York case was brought by state prosecutors and has already resulted in a conviction, Mr. Trump’s lawyers have argued that keeping it alive would impose “unconstitutional impediments to President Trump’s ability to govern.”

The Manhattan district attorney’s office, which prosecuted Mr. Trump, has opposed any effort to overturn the jury’s verdict, saying that would amount to an “extreme remedy.”

Instead, the prosecutors have signaled a willingness to freeze the case for four years while Mr. Trump holds office, a move that would indefinitely postpone his sentencing.

“This type of time-limited accommodation is far more appropriate than the sweeping relief that defendant requests here, which would render the indictment and jury verdict in this case a nullity and eliminate his accountability for the crimes that a jury of his peers found he committed by proof beyond a reasonable doubt,” the prosecutors wrote in a recent court filing.

Justice Merchan, who could rule as soon as this week on Mr. Trump’s election-related dismissal bid, has already paused the sentencing several times. Mr. Trump faces up to four years in prison, but he is unlikely to receive more than a few weeks or months behind bars in New York, according to legal experts.

Mr. Trump cannot be sent to jail while he is president, and the judge can choose to hold off on sentencing him until after his term ends. If Justice Merchan decides instead to address the matter now, he could choose to uphold the conviction but impose no jail time or any other punishment.

If Mr. Trump manages to avoid all punishment whatsoever in his only criminal case to make it to trial, it would complete a stunning turnabout from earlier this year, when he faced four indictments in four different jurisdictions.

The federal special counsel who brought two of those cases, one in Washington, D.C., and the other in Florida, recently shut down both of them, bowing to the Justice Department’s policy against prosecuting sitting presidents federally.

In Georgia, where a local prosecutor accused Mr. Trump of trying to subvert the state’s 2020 election results, Mr. Trump has already managed to delay the case indefinitely.

The Supreme Court’s immunity decision stems from the special counsel’s case in Washington, where Mr. Trump is accused of plotting to overturn his 2020 election loss.

The 6-to-3 ruling, which was decided along partisan lines, held that a former president was “entitled to at least presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his official acts.”

Within hours of the decision’s landing, Mr. Trump’s lawyers sought to link it to the Manhattan case, arguing that it invalidated the conviction.

At first blush, the two seem unrelated.

In May, a jury of 12 New Yorkers found Mr. Trump guilty of all 34 counts of falsifying business records related to covering up a porn star’s account of a sexual encounter with him, which threatened to derail his 2016 presidential campaign.

To bury the story, Michael D. Cohen, Mr. Trump’s former fixer, brokered a $130,000 hush-money deal with the porn star, Stormy Daniels. Mr. Trump eventually repaid Mr. Cohen, who testified that his former boss orchestrated a scheme to falsify records and hide the true purpose of the reimbursement.

Mr. Trump’s lawyers argued that, in light of the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling, prosecutors had improperly relied on evidence that involved “official communications” during his first term in the White House, including tweets he posted as president.

But many of those statements were public, the prosecutors noted, and the Supreme Court specifically exempted public information from the prohibition on using official acts as evidence.

Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts concluded that a “prosecutor may point to the public record” to illustrate an argument, even if it involves official acts.

In his ruling on Monday, Justice Merchan rejected the defense’s effort to portray the tweets as official acts, concluding that they “do not constitute the type of conduct” the Supreme Court intended to protect.

“To find otherwise would effectively mean that every statement ever uttered (or posted on social media) by a sitting president, whether personal or official, in his or her own interests or that of the country, would be protected by absolute immunity,” Justice Merchan wrote.

Still, Mr. Trump mounted a somewhat stronger argument that the Supreme Court’s ruling now prohibits some of the testimony that was given at trial. His lawyers cited the testimony of two of Mr. Trump’s former White House employees, his communications director Hope Hicks and Madeleine Westerhout, a director of Oval Office operations.

In one crucial portion of her testimony, Ms. Hicks told the jury about a discussion she had with Mr. Trump in the White House after the hush-money deal with Ms. Daniels had come to light. Ms. Hicks said that after The Wall Street Journal broke the story, she spoke with Mr. Trump about “how to respond.”

Yet prosecutors argued that the discussions between Ms. Hicks and Mr. Trump “related solely to unofficial conduct” about the sex scandal. The prosecutors invoked the Supreme Court ruling to help their cause, noting that Justice Roberts had written that a president can speak “in an unofficial capacity,” and that not every act a president takes is official, a holding that Justice Merchan highlighted in his ruling on Monday.

The prosecutors also argued that even if Ms. Hicks’s testimony had somehow crossed a line, they had presented so much other evidence that “any error was harmless” and the guilty verdict should stand. Justice Merchan agreed, citing an array of other evidence that prosecutors introduced at trial, including Mr. Cohen’s testimony and Mr. Trump’s own words in books he wrote.

The judge noted that he was not alone in concluding that Mr. Trump’s actions had been private, not official.

A federal judge who evaluated the case last year when Mr. Trump tried to move it out of state court concluded that the “evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the matter was a purely personal item of the president.”

The federal judge, Alvin K. Hellerstein, noted in his opinion that “hush money paid to an adult film star is not related to a president’s official acts.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/16/nyregion/trump-immunity-criminal-case.html

[todayworldnews2k21]

Judge rejects Trump bid to dismiss hush money conviction over immunity ruling

A judge Monday rejected President-elect Donald Trump’s bid to have his hush money conviction dismissed because of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling on presidential immunity. But the case’s overall future remains unclear. Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan’s decision eliminates one potential off-ramp from the case ahead of Trump’s return to office next month, but his lawyers have raised other…

[peaksport]

Judge Denies Trump’s Bid to Throw Out Conviction Over Immunity Ruling

Justice Juan M. Merchan thwarted one of the many attempts by Donald J. Trump to clear his record of 34 crimes before returning to the White House. Source link

[dertaglichedan]

BREAKING - JUDICIAL MISCONDUCT IN TRUMP’S VERDICT? In a letter, today, June 7, 2024, Judge Juan M. Merchan of the New York Supreme Court, alerted the involved parties in the case People v. Trump about a concerning comment posted on the Unified Court System's Facebook page a week ago.

NOTE: The comment, made by a user named "Michael Anderson," claims that his cousin, a juror in the trial, had already decided that Trump will be convicted.

NOTE: The notification is significant because it suggests potential juror bias or misconduct, which could impact the fairness of the trial.

NOTE: The judge brought the issue to the attention of both Trump’s defense attorney, Todd Blanche, and the prosecutor, ADA Joshua Steinglass.

NOTE: It’s unclear whether the allegation is true or the person truly connected to the juror. But it’s concerning enough the judge had to notify both parties.

Below is the letter:

CHAMBERS 100 CENTRE STREET NEW YORK, N.Y. 10013

JUDGE OF THE COURT OF CLAIMS SUPREME COURT, CRIMINAL TERM FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT**

Via Email June 7, 2024

Todd Blanche, Esq. 99 Wall Street Suite 4460 New York, NY 10005

ADA Joshua Steinglass New York County District Attorney’s Office One Hogan Place New York, NY 10013

Re: People v. Trump, Ind. No. 71543-2023

Dear Counsel:

Today, the Court became aware of a comment that was posted on the Unified Court System’s public Facebook page and which I now bring to your attention. In the comment, the user, “Michael Anderson,” states:

“My cousin is a juror and says Trump is getting convicted 🥳 Thank you folks for all your hard work!!!! 🖤.”

The comment, now labeled as one week old, responded to a routine UCS notice, posted on May 29, 2024, regarding oral arguments in the Fourth Department of the Appellate Division unrelated to this proceeding.

The posting, entitled “The Appellate Division, Fourth Department, will hear oral arguments this morning at 10,” and the comment are both viewable at https://facebook.com/NewYorkCourts/.

Very truly yours,

Juan M. Merchan Judge Court of Claims Acting Justice Supreme Court

cc: Susan Necheles, Esq. Counsel of record ADA Susan Hoffinger Assistant District Attorneys of record Court file

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[cavenewstimes]

The Fatal Flaw That Doomed the Trump Trials

Jurisprudence Michael M. Santiago/Pool/AFP via Getty Images Last week, Donald Trump’s lawyers asked Justice Juan Merchan to dismiss the New York hush money case against him because he is—by dint of securing the presidency—now too big to sentence. The Georgia, Florida, and New York criminal trials thus seem to have all gone the way of the Dodo bird. This week on Amicus Plus, Dahlia Lithwick was…