Donald Trump’s criminal convictions have officially entered legal limbo while prosecutors try to decide how to respond to his election victory.
Over the weekend, lawyers for the incoming president asked the court to halt a pair of scheduled hearings in his New York hush money case—including an immunity hearing and a sentencing hearing—in light of Trump’s re-election.
Prosecutors agreed to a week-long delay while they decide on their next steps, NBC News reported.
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“The People agree that these are unprecedented circumstances and that the arguments raised… require careful consideration,” prosecutor Matthew Colangelo wrote in a letter to the judge.
The court must decide how to balance the competing interests of a guilty verdict handed down by a jury in a criminal trial “that has the presumption of regularity,” versus the interests of the Office of the President, the letter said.
Trump was scheduled to be sentenced November 26 after a New York jury found him guilty of falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal involving former adult film star Stormy Daniels. It was the first time a former president had ever been convicted of a crime.
The 34 felony counts carry a possible sentence of up to four years in prison, and if Trump were a normal defendant, there would be a good chance he’d be headed to Rikers Island, according to an analysis of similar cases from the New York Times.
But the Department of Justice has a policy of not prosecuting sitting presidents, and state courts are generally expected—though not required—to follow suit.
Trump’s lawyers have already argued the case should be dismissed altogether based on presidential immunity, or moved to federal court where Trump could most likely pardon himself.
A hearing on the immunity claim was originally scheduled for Tuesday, but that was when Trump was a former president and not an incoming president.
Now, prosecutors have asked the court to let them have until November 19 to file a motion outlining what they think should happen next. Judge Juan Merchan’s clerk wrote back saying the court had agreed.
If prosecutors do seek jail time, they’ll be raising a host of complex constitutional questions about whether a state court can sentence a president-elect. At a minimum, Trump’s lawyers are likely to argue he can’t be sentenced until after he leaves office in 2029, making him unlikely to actually serve any time, some legal experts predict.
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