Current:Home > MarketsTrump seeks to overturn criminal conviction, citing Supreme Court immunity decision-InfoLens
Trump seeks to overturn criminal conviction, citing Supreme Court immunity decision
View Date:2024-12-23 10:54:46
Donald Trump is trying to leverage a Supreme Court decision holding that presidents are immune from federal prosecution for official actions to overturn his conviction in a New York State criminal case.
A letter to the judge presiding over the New York case was made public on Tuesday. It was filed Monday after the Supreme Court's landmark holding further slowed the former president's criminal cases.
"[T]he Trump decision confirmed the defense position that [the district attorney] should not have been permitted to offer evidence at trial of President Trump's official acts," Trump attorneys Todd Blanche and Emil Bove wrote.
"The verdicts in this case violate the presidential immunity doctrine and create grave risks of 'an Executive Branch that cannibalizes itself,'" the wrote, quoting from the Supreme Court's decision. "After further briefing on these issues beginning on July 10, 2024, it will be manifest that the trial result cannot stand."
Lawyers from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office responded in a letter of their own on Tuesday, telling the judge they disagreed with the Trump attorneys' argument but did not oppose delaying Trump's July 11 sentencing date. They asked for a deadline of July 24 to respond to the defense's motion.
Trump's criminal case in New York is the only one of four against him to go to trial. On May 30, a unanimous jury concluded Trump was guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in an effort to cover up reimbursements for a "hush money" payment to an adult film star. Trump signed off on falsifying the records while he was in the White House in 2017.
Monday's Supreme Court decision extended broad immunity from criminal prosecutions to former presidents for their official conduct. But the issue of whether Trump was engaged in official acts has already been litigated in his New York case.
Trump sought in 2023 to move the case from state to federal jurisdiction. His lawyers argued that the allegations involved official acts within the color of his presidential duties.
That argument was rejected by a federal judge who wrote that Trump failed to show that his conduct was "for or relating to any act performed by or for the President under color of the official acts of a president."
"The evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the matter was purely a personal item of the president — a cover-up of an embarrassing event," U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein wrote. "Hush money paid to an adult film star is not related to a president's official acts. It does not reflect in any way the color of the president's official duties."
Trump initially appealed that decision, but later dropped it.
His case went to trial in April, and soon after the jury's unanimous decision finding him guilty, Trump vowed to appeal the conviction.
- In:
- Supreme Court of the United States
- Donald Trump
Graham Kates is an investigative reporter covering criminal justice, privacy issues and information security for CBS News Digital. Contact Graham at [email protected] or [email protected]
veryGood! (274)
Related
- Over 1.4 million Honda, Acura vehicles subject of US probe over potential engine failure
- Halloweentown Costars Kimberly J. Brown and Daniel Kountz Are Married
- Boston Dynamics' robot Atlas being billed as 'fully-electric humanoid': Watch it in action
- 3 hospitalized after knife attack on boat in New York City, along East River in Brooklyn
- When do new episodes of 'Cobra Kai' Season 6 come out? Release date, cast, where to watch
- The Daily Money: What's Amazon's Just Walk Out?
- Phone lines are open for Cardinals and Chargers, who have options at top of 2024 NFL draft
- Morgan Wallen ‘not proud of my behavior’ after allegedly throwing a chair off Nashville rooftop
- New Orleans marks with parade the 64th anniversary of 4 little girls integrating city schools
- Taylor Swift's 'Tortured Poets Department' and when lyrics about dying, grief, heartbreak trigger you
Ranking
- Here's what 3 toys were inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame this year
- Lawsuits under New York’s new voting rights law reveal racial disenfranchisement even in blue states
- Elevate Your Wardrobe With the Top 24 Trending Amazon Styles Right Now
- Can you use hyaluronic acid with retinol? A dermatologist breaks it down.
- In bizarro world, Tennessee plays better defense, and Georgia's Kirby Smart comes unglued
- Autoworkers union celebrates breakthrough win in Tennessee and takes aim at more plants in the South
- Extinct snake that measured up to 50 feet long discovered in India
- Get Your Activewear Essentials for Less at Kohl’s, Including Sales on Nike, Adidas, Champions & More
Recommendation
-
Horoscopes Today, November 10, 2024
-
Get Your Activewear Essentials for Less at Kohl’s, Including Sales on Nike, Adidas, Champions & More
-
NBA games today: Everything to know about playoff schedule on Sunday
-
Kyle Dake gains Olympic berth after father's recent death: 'I just really miss him'
-
How to protect your Social Security number from the Dark Web
-
The Daily Money: What's Amazon's Just Walk Out?
-
Oregon lodge famously featured in ‘The Shining’ will reopen to guests after fire forced evacuations
-
Halloweentown Costars Kimberly J. Brown and Daniel Kountz Are Married