New York Court of Appeals rejects Trump’s attempt to stop a hush-money ruling by Reuters

Written by Luke Cohen and Jack Quinn

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A New York appeals court on Tuesday rejected President-elect Donald Trump’s attempt to halt his conviction on Friday on criminal charges related to hush money paid to a porn actress.

Trump’s request to the Appellate Division, the state’s mid-level appellate court, represents a last-ditch effort by Trump to block the trial judge’s ruling Monday to go forward with the ruling, scheduled for 10 days before his inauguration.

In his ruling Monday, Judge Juan Merchan denied a request from Trump’s lawyers to delay sentencing while they appealed two of the judge’s earlier rulings that upheld a Manhattan jury’s guilty verdict in May on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. The judge described Trump’s request for a postponement mostly as “a repetition of arguments he has made numerous times in the past.”

When Trump’s sentencing was scheduled for Friday, Merchan said he was not inclined to send Trump to prison. The judge said sentencing him to unconditional release, which effectively puts a guilty verdict on his record without a fine or probation, would be the most practical approach given Trump’s imminent return to the presidency.