A judge has rejected former President Donald Trump’s eleventh-hour bid on Monday to postpone his criminal trial in New York and relocate the case from Manhattan.
Judge Lizbeth Gonzalez denied the request without providing any explanation in a concise one-sentence order.
Trump’s legal team has appealed to an intermediary appellate court, requesting a delay in the trial scheduled for April 15. They contend that the extensive pretrial publicity has created an environment where it would be challenging to find an unbiased and impartial jury, even with a meticulous jury selection process.
According to defense attorney Emil Bove, this case is unparalleled in terms of prejudicial pretrial publicity in the county. He argued that there hasn’t been a case that has garnered as much attention since the 1999 police killing of Amadou Diallo.
During a short argument before the Appellate Division First Department, the defense put forward the suggestion that a significant number of individuals in Manhattan hold a negative opinion of Trump.
According to Bove, the defendant is facing such deep-rooted bias that voir dire, the process of selecting jurors, cannot be relied upon to rectify the situation. He argues that jury selection in this county cannot proceed fairly next week.
According to a prosecutor from the Manhattan district attorney’s office, there is no evidence to indicate that potential jurors in Manhattan are particularly vulnerable to negative pretrial publicity due to Trump’s national and global prominence.
“The prosecutor, Steven Wu, dismissed the notion of transferring the venue, stating that it was misguided. He emphasized that the mere knowledge of this case should not be seen as an indication of bias.”
According to prosecutors, Trump played a significant role in generating publicity for the case against him. They claim that he was responsible for much of the attention through his social media posts, campaign speeches, and remarks made outside the courthouse. The case charges him with falsifying business records to conceal the true purpose of a hush payment made to a porn actress.
Wu claimed that the defendant entered the argument with dirty hands.
Trump’s legal team will make another appearance at the appellate division on Tuesday, seeking to relax the limitations on his ability to discuss individuals linked to his hush-money case.
A limited gag order has been imposed by trial judge Juan Merchan, which prohibits Trump from making any public statements regarding prosecutors, judicial staff, witnesses, and other relevant parties. This order has been further extended by Merchan to include both Trump’s family and the family of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Trump is currently challenging the gag order using a provision in New York State law that permits defendants to contest administrative decisions. It’s important to note that Trump is not personally suing the judge; rather, the case is titled Trump v Merchan.
The schedule for oral arguments on Tuesday has not been determined yet.
Former President Donald Trump is currently facing 34 felony counts for falsifying business records. These charges were brought against him by a Manhattan grand jury. The indictment is related to a hush money payment that Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 presidential election.
Donald Trump has consistently maintained his innocence and entered a plea of not guilty in April.
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