The person has run out of Trump cards.
This week, Trump’s lawyers faced a series of setbacks as three Manhattan appellate judges rejected their three separate emergency delay bids. The rejections came after arguments were presented on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.
Barry Kamins, a retired New York Supreme Court justice, chuckled and remarked, “I think they’ve run out of steam here,” when discussing the pretrial delay bids.
According to an interview with Business Insider, the only possible reason for the trial to be halted at this point would be if there were concerns regarding Mr. Trump’s health.
Kamins, a former chief of policy and planning for the state court system who is now a partner at Aidala Bertuna & Kamins, emphasized that such a situation would undergo thorough scrutiny.
According to him, there are no other legal avenues to postpone the trial except for a health concern on the part of the defendant. However, he emphasized that this would only result in a brief delay of a few days or weeks at most.
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Mid-trial legal delays are also unlikely
Three appellate efforts are still ongoing for Trump, as he challenges state Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan’s gag order, questions his ability to preside impartially over the hush-money trial, and pushes back against his recent attempts to limit last-minute pretrial motions.
Legal experts also say that even if Trump were to win, which is considered a long shot, it is highly unlikely that any of the three appellate decisions would be able to halt or even temporarily pause the trial.
Moreover, in the event that he is unsuccessful in these three legal battles, it is highly unlikely that the New York Court of Appeals, which is the state’s highest court, would intervene and disrupt an ongoing trial. Even if the judges were to agree to hear the cases, the court would be hesitant to interfere with the trial proceedings.
According to Paul Shechtman, a former federal prosecutor in Manhattan and chief of appeals, it is unlikely that they would take it in the middle of a trial.
Kamins and Michel Paradis, a Columbia Law School professor specializing in national security and constitutional law, both concur that these challenges will be addressed after the trial concludes, rather than during the proceedings.
According to Paradis, it is highly unusual for a criminal trial to continue while it is already in progress.
However, despite Trump’s lawyers being unable to halt the trial, their endeavors may still hold value in the future.
Trump’s lawyers have lodged complaints, but have yet to gain success, asserting that his First Amendment right to campaign for office and his Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial have been denied.
According to Paradis, Trump’s attorneys are strategically raising constitutional issues during these unsuccessful attempts to delay the proceedings. This tactic serves as a foundation for potential challenges to his conviction in both the state and national supreme courts.
