Jan. 9 (UPI) — New York’s highest appeals court shot down President-elect Donald Trump’s longshot attempt to delay Friday’s sentencing in his hush-money conviction that was decided back in May.
Trump’s attorneys asked the State Court of Appeals to intervene as the U.S. Supreme Court is taking up his emergency motion to halt the sentencing. The chief appeals clerk notified Trump that Judge Jenny Rivera refused to sign the order to stop the sentencing.
“As a result of the judge’s determination, no motion is pending in the above title at the Court of Appeals,” Clerk Heather Davis wrote on Thursday.
Trump’s last hope to stop the sentencing now lies with the U.S. Supreme Court, where Trump’s attorneys have filed an emergency motion. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who handles emergencies out of New York can decide on the appeal herself or ask all the justices to weigh in.
Trump said the sentencing should not take place until an appeal can be heard on State Judge Juan Merchan’s ruling that his hush-money case is not covered by presidential immunity, an argument rejected by all three court levels in New York.
In May, a jury convicted Trump on 34 counts of falsifying business records but legal actions by the president-elect have stalled the process along with a Supreme Court ruling that said that some of his actions while in office should be protected.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said that Trump’s actions during the hush-money case and currently are occurring while he out not a sitting president, thus does not qualify him for any immunity.
“The president-elect is, by definition, not yet president,” Bragg’s court filing said, according to ABC News. “The president-elect therefore does not perform any Article II functions under the Constitution, and there are no Article II functions that would be burdened by ordinary criminal process involving the president-elect.”
