The judge in Donald Trump silent money criminal case in New York will decide on Tuesday whether to overturn Trump’s conviction based on the recent US Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity.

a jury Trump condemned in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records related to a payment of money to adult film actress Stormy Daniel to silence allegations about a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006 to improve her electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.

If Judge Juan Merchán confirms the conviction, sentencing in the case is scheduled for November 26, less than two months before Trump’s inauguration.

While the $130,000 payment preceded Trump’s rise to the presidency, Trump has claimed that prosecutors filled “glaring gaps in his case” with evidence related to official acts he performed later in office, which the Supreme Court ruled were out of bounds in his July ruling. in presidential immunity.

Prosecutors have argued that the case centers on “completely personal” conduct with “no relationship whatsoever to any official duty of the presidency.”

“(T)he evidence he claims is affected by the Supreme Court’s ruling constitutes only a portion of the mountains of testimony and documentary evidence that the jury considered in finding him guilty of all 34 felony counts beyond a reasonable doubt.” “prosecutors said.

Defense attorneys have argued that certain evidence, including Trump’s conversations with then-White House communications director Hope Hicks and Trump’s social media posts when he was president, tainted the jury’s understanding of the case. .

In one example cited by prosecutors, Hicks testified that Trump said he preferred the story about his hush money to come out after the election, suggesting he was aware that Daniels’ allegations could have impacted the race. . In his closing statement, a prosecutor described the testimony as the final “nail in Mr. Trump’s coffin.”

In response, prosecutors have argued that Hicks’ testimony “related solely to unofficial conduct” and would not be considered immune.

Trump has called for the verdict to be overturned or the case to be dismissed entirely. If Judge Merchan overturns the conviction, he could order a new trial, which would be delayed for at least four years until Trump leaves office, or dismiss the indictment entirely.

Merchan has already delayed the sentence twice: first after the immunity decision in July, and again in September to “avoid any appearance, however unjustified, that the procedure has been affected or seeks to affect the upcoming presidential elections.” . said the judge.

Following Trump’s election victory, his inauguration is scheduled less than two months from his sentencing date, limiting Merchan’s options to punish the president-elect, according to experts.

Trump’s conviction carries a sentence of up to four years in prison, although first-time offenders typically receive lesser sentences.

Meanwhile, special counsel Jack Smith is expected to dismiss Trump’s two federal criminal cases, related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and withhold classified documents after leaving the White House, based on longstanding Department policy. of Justice that prohibits the prosecution of sitting presidents. Trump’s criminal election interference case in Georgia has also been mired in delays, leaving his conviction in New York as the last of your criminal obstacles before regaining the presidency.

In his September order delaying sentencing until this month, Judge Merchan described the case as “one that stands alone, in a unique place in the history of this nation.”