(DCNF)—Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz explained on Newsmax Friday how he believes President Donald Trump’s conviction in the New York hush money case can still be appealed, despite no formal sentence being handed down yet.
In January, the Supreme Court declined to block Trump’s sentencing, even as Judge Juan Merchan signaled plans to issue an unconditional discharge without jail time, fines or probation. Responding to concerns that Merchan had effectively “buried the case” by stalling post-conviction proceedings, Dershowitz pushed back during an appearance on “The Record with Greta Van Susteren.”
“The case is going to be appealed. Trump has hired Sullivan and Cromwell to be his lawyers to appeal the case,” Dershowitz told Van Susteren when the host said the case will never go up to the Court of Appeals. “He will go first to the appellate division, then to the Court of Appeals, and, ultimately, the Supreme Court. The case will be appealed.”
While saying that the courts might initially question jurisdiction over a conviction without a finalized sentence, Dershowitz said he does not expect that to stop the appeal from moving forward.
“He gave a sentence that was a non-sentence, but it’s enough to end the case and allow him to appeal, and I don’t think the appeal has yet been filed. I don’t think the briefs have yet been filed, but there is, I think, a schedule now. And there will be an appeal. Now, the Court may say, wait a minute, there was no sentence, so we have no jurisdiction,” Dershowitz added.
Dershowitz minced no words about the weakness of the Manhattan case.
“I think they’re going to handle the appeal. I think they’re going to reverse the conviction, and if they don’t reverse the conviction, a higher court will. This is the weakest case in my 60 years of practicing law I have ever seen,” Dershowitz said.
A Manhattan jury convicted Trump last May of 34 felony counts for falsifying business records tied to a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels. Trump, who joined the sentencing hearing remotely, said the payment was a “legal expense” and denied any wrongdoing.
Afterward, the president announced plans to appeal the verdict in a Truth Social post.
“The real Jury, the American People, have spoken, by Re-Electing me with an overwhelming MANDATE in one of the most consequential Elections in History. As the American People have seen, this ‘case’ had no crime, no damages, no proof, no facts, no Law, only a highly conflicted Judge, a star witness who is a disbarred, disgraced, serial perjurer, and criminal Election Interference,” Trump wrote.
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