Trump escapes from prison, is fined in a felony case
US President-elect Donald Trump was spared any legal punishment other than a criminal record for his felony convictions after a judge on Friday gave him an alternative sentence called an unconditional discharge.
Judge Juan Marchan’s ruling does not allow Trump to oversee any jail time, fines or probation, although the ruling confirms his record as the first convicted felon to occupy the White House.
The incoming president was seen from a distance during a meeting with his lawyer on television screens in the courtroom. Taking the opportunity to speak in court, Trump maintained his innocence and said the case was a “huge setback” for the justice system.
Trump, who took office on January 20, said, “I am completely innocent, I have not done anything wrong.”
The president-elect was convicted in May of falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal that threatened to derail his first presidential campaign in 2016.
Jury found him guilty on all 34 countsmaking him the first president to be tried as a criminal.
Trump, 78, has fought hard to stop his historic ruling, including an emergency appeal to the US Supreme Court this week. On Thursday, the high court declined to do so by a narrow 5-4 majority.
Trump’s crimes come with up to four years in prison and a $5,000 fine per count. But the courts of first instance have the power to impose a different sentence if they see fit, based on all the circumstances of the crime and the offender.
Underneath New York lawif the judge does not consider a term of imprisonment or probation to be in the public interest, he may choose parole.
David Dorfman, a law professor at Pace University in New York, told CBC News on Friday that “unconditional discharge is virtually nothing in terms of punishment.”
“You are now forever known as a criminal, but 34 convictions have no direct consequences. A former and soon-to-be president owes nothing to the courts.”
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Dorfman said Mercha is bound by sentencing guidelines. In this case, Trump is a first-time, non-violent felon convicted of a low-level crime in New York, and it is highly impractical to imprison the President of the United States.
“I think if Judge Merchan had lost the election, he would have been tougher on him,” said Dorfman, who was not involved in the case.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office supported Mercha’s planned sentence, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass told the court on Friday.
“The verdict in this case was unanimous and final and should be respected,” Steinglass said.
Trump is free to apply
With the sentencing now over, Trump is now free to formally appeal the jury’s verdict. He cannot pardon himself because these presidential powers only apply to federal crimes, not state ones.
The New York case revolved around Stormi Daniels, a porn star who threatened to go public with an extramarital affair in the middle of Trump’s first presidential campaign in 2006.
Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, negotiated a $130,000 hush payment to silence Daniels.
Trump paid him back, but Cohen told jurors last spring that the former president hatched a scheme to falsify records and cover up the deal.
In a recent motion to stay the sentence at the U.S. Supreme Court, Trump’s attorneys argued that their client is entitled to full immunity because of his Nov. 5 election victory.
A lawsuit was filed in a landmark Supreme Court decision Last year, it gave former presidents immunity for official acts.
Five Supreme Court justices rejected Trump’s last-minute request to stay his sentence, saying Trump could resolve the issues he raised in the normal appeals process. They also found the heavy penalty imposed on the president-elect’s liabilities to be “relatively insignificant.”
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