The Manhattan judge who presided over Donald Trump's hush-money criminal trial is now deliberating whether to overturn the president-elect's historic felony conviction before he returns to the White House.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan had previously postponed sentencing by over four months to occur after the election and has until Tuesday to decide if the conviction should remain, according to CNN.
He will be under significant pressure from the president-elect's legal team, who now aim to ensure that sentencing does not proceed, as noted by CNN chief legal affairs correspondent Paula Reid on Wednesday evening.
"Here, they will argue to the judge that sentencing should not proceed because Trump is now the president-elect," Reid observed. "They will assert that he is entitled to the same constitutional protections as a sitting president and should be shielded from state actors, including state prosecutors."
Trump, 78, faces up to four years in prison after being found guilty of 34 counts of felony falsifying business records to conceal payments to porn star Stormy Daniels prior to the 2016 election.
Legal experts have already suggested that Trump is unlikely to serve hard time. "Merchan lacks the resolve to imprison a former president or president-elect," said former prosecutor Neama Rahmani. "Now that Trump has won, his criminal issues will fade away."
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