Former President Donald Trump arrives at Manhattan Criminal Court on Thursday, May 30, 2024, in New York.
Seth Little | Via Reuters
On Tuesday, a New York appeals court judge rejected the president-elect's request Donald Trump delay his criminal sentencing Friday for his conviction in the payment case silence the money to a porn star before the 2016 elections.
Judge Ellen Gesmer's denial came shortly after she held a hearing at Trump's request, and a day after Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, who presided over Trump's trial, declined to delay the ruling.
Trump's lawyers argued that Trump had the right to stay the case due to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year that said presidents have presumptive immunity from prosecution for official acts made while in office.
Todd Blanche, a lawyer for President-elect Donald Trump, leaves the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court in New York, U.S., January 7, 2025.
Adam Szary | Reuters
Lawyers also argued that if Trump is convicted 10 days before he is scheduled to take the oath of office for a second term, Trump will suffer irreparable harm and his constitutional rights will be violated.
During the hearing, Gesmer was skeptical of these claims.
She noted that Merchan has already said he probably won't send Trump to prison. Merchan also said he was inclined not to order Trump to serve probation or pay any fine in the case.
“After considering the submitted documents and an extensive oral argument, the applicant's application for a temporary stay is dismissed,” Gesmer wrote in her ruling.
Last year, Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with a $130,000 payment by his then-lawyer Michael Cohen to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
Cohen paid Daniels on the eve of the 2016 presidential election in exchange for her silence about an alleged one-time sexual tryst with Trump in 2006.
Trump denies having sex with Daniels.