A judge must decide on Tuesday yes undo President-elect Donald Trump’s conviction in his hush money case due to a US Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity.

New York Judge Juan M. Merchán, who presided over Trump’s historic trial, is now tasked with deciding whether to throw out the jury’s verdict and order a new trial, or even dismiss the charges entirely. The judge’s ruling could also indicate whether the former and now future commander in chief will be sentenced as scheduled on November 26.

The Republican regained the White House a week ago, but the legal issue concerns his status as a former president, not an imminent president.

a jury Trump condemned in May of falsifying business records related to a $130,000 payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels in 2016. The payment was to buy her silence about claims that she had sexual relations with Trump.

He says they didn’t, denies any wrongdoing and maintains the prosecution was a political tactic intended to damage his latest campaign.

Just over a month after the verdict, the Supreme Court ruled that former presidents cannot be prosecuted for actions they took while governing the country, and prosecutors cannot cite those actions even to bolster a case focused on purely political issues. personal. conduct.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that former President Donald Trump has some immunity from prosecution for acts while he was in office. News 4’s Gus Rosendale breaks down the decision.

Trump’s lawyers cited the ruling to They argue that the jury that requested silence obtained some evidence that it should not have, such as Trump’s presidential financial disclosure form and the testimony of some White House advisers.

Prosecutors disagreed. and said the evidence in question was only “a portion” of his case.

Trump’s criminal conviction was the first for any former president. It left the 78-year-old facing the possibility of punishments ranging from a fine or probation to four years in prison.

The case centered on how Trump justified reimbursing his personal attorney for the payment to Daniels.

The lawyer, Michael Cohen, advanced the money. He later recovered it through a series of payments that Trump’s company recorded as legal expenses. Trump, by then in the White House, signed most of the checks himself.

Prosecutors said the designation was intended to conceal the true purpose of the payments and help cover up a broader effort to prevent voters from hearing unflattering statements about the Republican during his first campaign.

Trump said Cohen was legitimately paid for his legal services and that Daniels’ story was suppressed to avoid embarrassing Trump’s family, not to influence the electorate.

Trump was a private citizen (he was campaigning for president, but was not elected or sworn in) when Cohen paid Daniels in October 2016. He was president when Cohen received the refund, and Cohen testified that they discussed the payment arrangement in the Oval Office. .

Trump has been fighting for months to overturn the verdict and could now try to take advantage of his status as president-elect. Although he was tried as a private citizen, his upcoming return to the White House could prompt a court to intervene and avoid the unprecedented spectacle of sentencing a former and future president.

While urging Merchan to reject the conviction, Trump has also been trying to take the case to federal court. Before the election, a federal judge repeatedly said no tailored, but Trump has appealed.