Trump's legal team plans to appeal his guilty verdict. Here's a timeline of how that could play out.
Hours after former president Donald Trump was found guilty Thursday on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in an effort to cover up a hush money payment before the 2016 election, his legal team vowed to appeal.
Trump’s lead defense attorney Todd Blanche said on CNN Thursday evening that the appeal of the convictions would be filed “as soon as we can.” Blanche also told NBC’s Today that they “expect to win on appeal.”
Here’s what the appeal timeline could look like:
Deadline for motions to be filed
Judge Juan Merchan told both parties in the case that they have until June 13 to file any motions. (Basically, written requests for the judge to weigh in on some issue pertaining to the case.) Blanche said Thursday that they plan to file motions challenging “things that happened in the trial that we think just made the trial unfair.”
Sentencing
Merchan scheduled Trump’s sentencing for July 11 at 10 a.m. ET. Before sentencing, the defense and prosecution are expected to submit sentencing memos, which will contain arguments about what their preferred punishment is for Trump, according to CNBC.
Before July 11, the former president will probably also sit for an interview with a probation officer who will ask Trump about his personal history and criminal record for a presentence report. (The president doesn’t have a criminal record prior to this conviction.) The report will also include sentencing recommendations based on the interview for Merchan to consider.
Appeal
Once Trump has been sentenced by Judge Merchan, on July 11, his attorneys will have 30 days to file a notice of appeal. (They’ll do this if their motions challenging how the verdict was reached are denied by Merchan.) From that point, they’ll have six months to file the appeal itself to the First Judicial Department of New York’s Appellate Division. This means the appeals process likely won’t be underway until after the November election.
If the appeal fails at the intermediate level of court, Trump’s legal team can request that New York’s Court of Appeals take up the case, followed by the U.S. Supreme Court.
It remains to be seen if Merchan would pause Trump’s punishment while the appeals process plays out.
What Trump’s team could appeal
Will Scharf, another Trump attorney, told Fox News that the former president’s legal team is “considering all options” for an appeal. “This case is replete with reversible error going back to the very first day, continuing through jury instructions,” Scharf said. “We will seek expedited review of this case.”
Blanche has identified some of the issues the defense wants to argue on appeal:
It was hard for Trump to get a fair trial because everyone knows who he is based on his high profile as a former president, a candidate or from The Apprentice.
Testimony from adult film actress Stormy Daniels went on too long and included salacious, irrelevant details. Daniels alleges she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006, which Trump denies.
The prosecution’s key witness, Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and so-called fixer, was previously convicted of making false statements. The defense argues he shouldn’t be relied upon in order to convict a person.
