Mitchell Epner: Convicted felon Donald Trump's decision to attack Justice Merchan (& his daughter) repeatedly & in the most personal terms possible is a bold strategy. Justice Merchan now has complete discretion whether to sentence Trump to probation or imprisonment of up to 4 years. He can consider the contempts.

Convicted felon Donald Trump's decision to attack Justice Merchan (& his daughter) repeatedly & in the most personal terms possible is a bold strategy. Justice Merchan now has complete discretion whether to sentence Trump to probation or imprisonment of up to 4 years. He can consider the contempts.

Bold Strategy Cottonwww.youtube.com Get There!

And there's plenty of time for him to rack up more contempts.

$100 says someone at least ATTEMPTS to claim Merchan must recuse since he can't fairly sentence someone who attacked him and his daughter

Most serious legal folks seems to have been saying that probation was most likely, not jail time, for Trump as a first time convict. But I can't help thinking that his outrageously wild contempt of court throughout the proceedings might put jail on the table for him anyway. Am I way off base?

Think about this: what would Trump say to the court at his own sentencing? He'd totally unrepentant and contemptuous. You gotta give the judge *some* reason to think you've learned your lesson or aren't a freaking mafia boss. Trump ain't giving him that. I think jail's more likely than not.

Mitchell I'm sure you have a lot on your plate right now but since your expertise on this is impeccable I'm just curious if you think this is an accurate assessment bsky.app/profile/edbu...

Every time Trump wants to go campaign somewhere he’s going to need to ask his probation officer for permission to leave the state and personally I think that’s pretty great

Not until sentencing. If probation is imposed, then this might be a condition of probation.

Great, thanks for the clarification!

Is it weird that they did not immediately announce an appeal?

Appeal cannot be taken until after the sentencing order is entered. I'm confident that the Trump legal team will put out a statement today that they will be appealing the verdict (if they haven't already).

If Trump appeals, there would be no jury for that appeal correct?

His appeal would be to the First Department Appellate Division (5 judge panel in Manhattan), and then possibly to the Court of Appeals (7 judges in Albany) and then theoretically to the US Supreme Court, but only on extremely narrow grounds.

Aside from the correct verdict being reach this gives non-fascists some hope that the rule of law still can work sometimes.

Four more years or four years--I know what I'd prefer.

Can a convicted felon vote in Florida?

nope

For an out-of-state felony conviction, Florida (a) bars voting if currently incarcerated and (b) follows the disenfranchisement rule of the state of conviction, once released (or sentenced to probation). In NY, unless currently in jail, a felon can vote. So Trump could vote, unless in jail.

Constitutional Amendment 4/Felon Voting Rights - Division of Elections - Florida Department of State dos.fl.gov

Damn. Thanks for the info

🫤 merp

We really shouldn't have disenfrachisement rules, except for MAYBE treason and seditious consipracy. But I know why we have them, so I don't have much hope for them ever changing.

HaHa he can't vote for himself

Florida laws defer to the state laws of the crime's occurance/conviction. So he would be subject to NY's laws, which don't disenfranchise felons unless they enter a jail for imprisonment. Florida would absolutely allow NY to not take his abillty to vote away... But if Merchan sends him to jail...

I think the judge should be merciful and only sentence him to 47 months

Four years for a guy his age sounds a lot like a life sentence.

I would love for Trump to go to jail. But I think the 2nd most poetic justice would be for Judge Merchan to sentence him to house arrest until one day after the election.

Is there any sort of reference for what sort of range of sentence would be typical in this case?

I read it’s a maximum of 4 years, with sentences running concurrently on all counts. Very typical on these types of charges to get only probation too. Not a lawyer but I follow a lot of them :)

That's right (am a lawyer) but Trump's interference w/ 2020 election, refusal to accept a loss in 2024, contempt for rule of law, attacks on judge & family & court staff, and numerous gag order violations all show spectacular degree of criminal entitlement. Letting that skate would be real weird.

If he gets prison time, he has to start serving the sentence even while appealing right?

In federal court there's a motion to postpone serving your sentence during appeal, and I presume something similar in NY state court. But it's very rarely granted.

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