Former U.S. President Donald Trump is convicted in hush money trial. Now what?
The Hindu
Former President Donald Trump awaits sentencing for falsifying business records, facing potential prison time or alternative punishments.
Donald Trump, the first former U.S. president to be convicted of a crime, will remain a free man while he awaits sentencing and could avoid a prison term entirely for falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to a porn star. Here is a look at what’s next for the Republican candidate for President against Democratic President Joe Biden in a November 5 election.
The judge presiding over the case, Juan Merchan, must first approve the verdict and enter a final judgment, though this is typically a formality.
Criminal defendants in New York are typically sentenced within several weeks of conviction, but post-verdict legal wrangling can sometimes lead to months of delays. In the meantime, lawyers and prosecutors will recommend sentences and then argue over them at Trump’s sentencing hearing, where Merchan will make a decision.
That is unlikely.
The maximum sentence for Mr. Trump’s crime of falsifying business records is 1-1/3 to four years in prison.
It is rare for people with no criminal history who are convicted only of falsification of business records to be sentenced to prison in New York. Punishments like fines or probation are more common.
Defendants convicted of falsifying business records who get sentenced to time behind bars typically serve a year or less, and even in those cases most were convicted of other crimes such as fraud or grand larceny — unlike Mr. Trump
The 29th edition of the Conference of Parties (COP29), held at Baku in Azerbaijan, is arguably the most important of the United Nations’ climate conferences. It was supposed to conclude on November 22, after nearly 11 days of negotiations and the whole purpose was for the world to take a collective step forward in addressing rising carbon emissions.