Appeals court rejects Donald Trump's latest attempt to delay April 15 criminal trial

NEW YORK — A New York appeals court judge on Tuesday rejected Donald Trump's latest attempt to delay his criminal trial, taking just 12 minutes to dismiss an argument that it should be postponed while the former president is fighting a gag order.

The ruling by Judge Cynthia Kerns was the second time in as many days that the state's mid-level appeals court refused to postpone the trial, which is scheduled to begin next week, further narrowing any plausible path to delay that Trump's legal team has repeatedly requested.

Trump's lawyers wanted the trial delayed until a full panel of appeals court judges could hear arguments on whether to lift or modify a silence order that bars him from making statements public information about jurors, witnesses and others connected to the silence affair.

They argue the gag order is an unconstitutional restriction on Republican candidates' alleged free speech rights as he campaigns for president and fights criminal charges.

The First Amendment damage resulting from this silencing order is currently irreparable, Trump lawyer Emil Bove said during an emergency hearing Tuesday before the state's mid-level appeals court .

Bove argued that Trump should not be muzzled as critics, including his former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen and porn actor Stormy Daniels, regularly attack him. Both are key prosecution witnesses.

Bove also argued that the order unconstitutionally restricts Trump's criticism of the matter and, with it, his ability to speak to the voting public and his right to hear it.

Steven Wu, chief of appeals for the Manhattan district attorney's office, countered that there was a public interest in protecting the integrity of the trial. »

What we're talking about here is the defendant's undisputed history of making “inflammatory and denigrating” comments about people involved in the case, Wu said. This is not a political debate. These are insults.

Wu said prosecutors have already struggled to get some witnesses to testify because they know what their names could lead to in the press. Wu did not identify the witnesses, but noted they were people who would testify about record-keeping practices.

The silence still gives Trump carte blanche to speak on a host of issues, noting that he can comment on Judge Juan M. Merchan and District Attorney Alvin Bragg and make political arguments as he sees fit. Trump has repeatedly lambasted Bragg, a Democrat, and the judge.

Barring further legal action, jury selection will begin April 15.

Merchan issued the gag order last month at the request of prosecutors, then expanded it last week to ban comments about his own family after Trump lashed out on social media at the judge's daughter , a Democratic political consultant, and did what the court system said was wrong. statements about it.

Tuesday was the second straight day for Trump's lawyers at the appeals court. Associate Judge Lizbeth Gonzlez on Monday rejected their request to delay the trial while Trump seeks to move his case out of heavily Democratic Manhattan.

Trump's lawyers framed their call for silence as a lawsuit against Merchan. In New York, judges can be sued to challenge certain decisions under a state law known as Section 78.

Trump has used this tactic before, including against the judge during his recent civil fraud trial in New York, in a failed last-minute attempt to delay that case last fall, and again when that judge imposed an order of silence prohibiting trial participants from publicly commenting on court staff members. . The order came after Trump defamed the judge's top law clerk in a social media post.

A single appeals judge lifted the civil trial's silencing order, but an appeals panel reinstated it two weeks later.

Trump's criminal case involves allegations that he falsified his company records to hide the nature of payments made to Cohen, who helped him bury negative stories during his 2016 campaign. Cohen's activities included paying Daniels $130,000 to suppress her allegations of an extramarital sexual relationship with Trump years earlier.

Trump pleaded not guilty last year to 34 counts of falsifying business records. He denied having a sexual relationship with Daniels. His lawyers argue that the payments to Cohen were legitimate legal fees.

Trump has made numerous attempts to have the trial postponed.

Last week, as Merchan rejected various requests to delay the trial, Trump renewed his request for the judge to recuse himself from the case. The judge rejected a similar request last August.

Trump's lawyers say the judge is biased against him and has a conflict of interest because of his daughter Loren's work as president of Authentic Campaigns, a company whose clients include the president Joe Biden and other Democrats. Trump's lawyers complained that the expanded gag shielded the Mercans from legitimate public criticism.

Mercan had long resisted the imposition of silence. During Trump's impeachment in April 2023, he warned Trump not to make statements that could incite violence or compromise security, but stopped short of muzzling him. At a later hearing, Merchan emphasized Trump's special status as a former president and current candidate and said he was going out of his way to ensure that Trump had every opportunity to speak out in favor of his candidacy.

Merchan grew increasingly wary of Trump's rhetoric disrupting the historic trial as it approached. In imposing silence, he said his obligation to ensure the integrity of the proceedings outweighed First Amendment concerns.

Trump responded on social media saying the gag order was illegal, un-American and unconstitutional and said Merchan was wrongly trying to deprive me of my First Amendment right to speak out against the militarization of law enforcement by his Democratic rivals.

Trump suggested without evidence that Merchan's decision-making was influenced by his daughter's professional interests and claimed, later repudiated by court officials, that Loren Merchan posted a photo on social media showing Trump behind the bars.

After the outburst, Merchan extended the silence order on April 1 to prohibit Trump from making statements about the judge's family or Bragg's family.

They can talk about me but I can't talk about them??? Trump reacted on his Truth Social platform.

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