Merchan denies Trump’s motion to dismiss and orders him to appear for sentencing next week

03 January

Even though he's due to be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States in a little more than two weeks, President-elect Donald Trump is still being ordered to appear in court next Friday to be officially sentenced for his 34 felony convictions.

On Friday, New York Daily News reporter Molly Crane-Newman reported that Trump's motion to dismiss his felony convictions handed down by a Manhattan jury last spring was unsuccessful, according to New York Supreme Court acting Justice Juan Merchan's latest ruling. Crane-Newman posted Merchan's order to Bluesky on Friday afternoon, in which the judge who oversaw Trump's 2024 trial ruled that the president-elect failed to prove that his convictions should be thrown out in accordance with the Supreme Court's immunity decision.

"HEREBY ORDERED that Defendant's motion to dismiss the indictment and vacate the jury verdict ... is denied, and it is further ORDERED that Defendant appear for sentencing following conviction on January 10, 2025 at 9:30 in the morning," Merchan wrote. He added that Trump could appear in-person or virtually, and that he is ordered to respond with his preference by Sunday, January 5.

Even though Trump is to be sentenced for 34 felony crimes, Merchan's ruling suggested that he would simply impose an "unconditional discharge," meaning that the president-elect won't face any actual penalties. He referred to it as "the most viable solution" and acknowledged Trump's concerns that being sentenced to prison or home confinement would impede his duties as president.

"While this Court as a matter of law must not make any determination on sentencing prior to giving the parties and Defendant an opportunity to be heard, it seems proper at this juncture to make known the Court’s inclination to not impose any sentence of incarceration, a sentence authorized by the conviction but one the People concede they no longer view as a practicable recommendation," Merchan wrote.

Trump was initially found guilty on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in late May of last year, and faced a potential prison sentence of up to 20 years. His initial sentencing date was slated for July, though Merchan eventually moved it back to September, and then to late November, before once again delaying it after Trump was re-elected. His repeated delays frustrated many legal observers and experts who lamented that Trump was "above the law."

""The American people have no trust in their institutions because those institutions do not work," journalist Nick Field posted to X in September.

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