Status of Donald Trump’s State criminal cases…..

Manhattan prosecutors face a Tuesday deadline to tell a judge how they want to proceed with Donald Trump’s 34-felony convictions hush money case now that he is the president-elect.

The expected court filing will help determine whether Trump returns to the White House after his inauguration Jan. 20 as the only president convicted and sentenced in a crime. Trump was charged in four criminal cases after his first term in office, but only the New York prosecution went to trial before his election win, apparently leaving the others in jeopardy.

The jury decision this year finding Trump guilty in the hush money case, which was presided over by New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, left him facing up to four years in prison. He is scheduled for sentencing next week, though that appears dependent on what happens after Merchan hears from prosecutors Tuesday…..

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Georgia….

The appeals to get re-elected Fulton Cty, Ga DA Willis off the case have been cancelled by the Georgia Siprmem Court….

Proceedings in the New York state hush money case were postponed for a week to give Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg time to tell the court how his office wants to proceed in the president-elect’s case (Bragg has a Tuesday deadline).

Now in Georgia state court, we have a cancellation in the fourth case in which Trump was criminally charged. A pretrial appellate hearing set for Dec. 5 in the defense effort to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was canceled on Monday by the state appeals court “until further order of this court.”

Unlike the other three criminal cases, where delays were explicitly in response to Trump’s election, the Georgia court hasn’t provided a public rationale for its latest move. Indeed, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported that the cancelation “took many attorneys involved in the appeal by surprise.”

The appeals court may have decided that it doesn’t need oral argument to rule and so it’s unnecessary to hold a hearing before doing so. If that’s the reason, then it would be the opposite of a delay if the court winds up ruling sooner than it otherwise would have. It’s also possible that the court wants to figure out how to proceed in the case since one party is now the president-elect.

The Georgia case is different from most of his other criminal cases in that he has multiple co-defendants in Georgia, so the appeal and any eventual trials (if the case proceeds after the appeal) can still proceed against those co-defendants who haven’t gained a legal windfall by winning political office…..

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