Among Donald Trump’s last efforts to delay his hush money trial is a complaint about pretrial publicity. However, the Manhattan district attorney’s office is against the former President’s “eighth request to adjourn the start of this trial.”
On Wednesday, April 3, 2024, the Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg urged a judge to reject Trump’s attempt to delay his criminal hush money trial. Trump wants the Judge to postpone the trial due to the high pretrial publicity. However, there’s no reason to think his claim will derail the criminal case.
The case, set for jury selection starting April 15, has gathered attention. Courts can generally consider such publicity. However, in response to Trump’s motion, Bragg pointed out that this case shouldn’t be held back. That’s because publicity in a criminal case against a former president is unlikely to die down.
He noted that jury selection can eliminate biased jurors, and the defendant himself is a prime publicity generator. Prosecutors also wrote to Judge Juan Merchan that rewarding the defendant with an adjournment based on media attention he is actively seeking would be perverse.
ALSO READ: Attorneys Encounter Challenge in Selecting Jury for Trump’s Hush Money Trial
“Defendant appears to acknowledge that there is no end in sight to public coverage of this criminal proceeding,” they wrote. “Laying bare his strategy of obtaining an open-ended delay of the trial.” Prosecutors argued that the publicity Trump’s attorneys complained about is of his own making.
Assistant DA Matthew Colangelo wrote in response to Trump’s motion that his “incessant rhetoric is generating significant publicity.” However, Trump’s attorneys claimed that the media has exposed potential jurors in Manhattan to vast amounts of biased information.
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“Defendant thus fails to demonstrate that the publicity surrounding this case is prejudicial at all,” Colangelo responded. “Much less so inflammatory as to jeopardize the fundamental fairness of the trial.”
As a result, Judge Merchan rejected Trump’s bid. Hence, his request to delay the trial over presidential immunity claims he raised in another criminal case failed. In his ruling, Judge Merchan declared the request untimely, saying it would hinder the case.
ALSO READ: Judge in New York Hush-Money Case Grants Limited Gag Order Against Trump
The Judge ruled that Trump’s lawyers had “myriad opportunities” to raise the immunity issue before they finally did in March. In a six-page decision, Merchan condemned the timing of the defense’s March 7 filing. He said it “raises real questions about the sincerity and actual purpose of the motion.”
Trump stands accused of covering up hush money paid ahead of the 2016 presidential election. The former President has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records. Despite his lawyers’ efforts, a jury will likely soon assess whether prosecutors can prove those charges beyond a reasonable doubt.
Prosecutors say the former President tried to hide long-denied allegations of an affair with adult film actress Stormy Daniels from voters ahead of the 2016 election. However, Trump has denied all wrongdoing.
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