Donald Trump is unlikely to be jailed for the Stormy Daniels falsifying records case, legal experts have said.
Trump is due to be sentenced on September 18, less than two months before the presidential election.
Judge Juan Merchan delayed the sentencing from July to September so that he could consider the impact of the Supreme Court’s recent presidential immunity decision.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, faced trial in New York City on 34 counts of falsifying business records for hush money payments made to former adult film actor Stormy Daniels.
On May 30, a jury convicted him on all 34 counts.
Newsweek sought email comment from Trump’s attorney on Wednesday.
Greg Germain, a law professor at Syracuse University in New York, told Newsweek that he believes an appeal court would strike down any prison term Merchan imposed.
“If Merchan sentenced him to jail in the middle of the election for this records violation, I think the courts would do whatever is necessary to prevent it. We’d be in uncharted waters,” he said. “But I don’t think Merchan will sentence him to jail. I think there were serious problems with the case and it should be reversed on appeal in due order without upsetting the election cycle.”
Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told Newsweek that there is a strong chance that Trump will be sentenced after the election.
“The delay in the sentencing may push Trump’s sentencing to after the November election, depending on if Merchan grants a further continuance to consider post-trial motions or if the New York appellate courts grant a stay,” he said.
He added that he doesn’t think Trump will be jailed regardless of when he is sentenced.
“I think Trump receives a slap on the wrist sentence like a fine or probation regardless of when he’s sentenced.”
Law professor and former Bush administration official John Yoo said that he believed Trump could be sentenced to prison.
Woo was appearing on America’s Newsroom on Fox News on August 14.
Yoo, a law professor at the University of California in Berkeley, said that Merchan had already moved the sentencing date closer to the beginning of mail-in voting.
“He could have exercised his discretion here to change the sentencing date. But instead, he actually moved it closer to the beginning of absentee voting in my home state of Pennsylvania.”
“Could you imagine what would happen if Judge Merchan sentenced Donald Trump to jail time, even though he’s a first time nonviolent offender?” Yoo asked.
“What if Judge Merchan even went crazier and said, Donald Trump doesn’t even get to stay out of jail while his case is on appeal? He has the power to actually order Donald Trump sent to jail immediately, although I expect he wouldn’t.
“But this judge has used his discretion every time to try to force this trial in a political direction that will have an effect on the election.”
Yoo was speaker at the 2024 National Conservatism Conference in Washington, D.C., and he is the author of Defender-in-Chief: Trump’s Fight for Presidential Power.
