Following the issuance of the guilty judgment - Victory in court for Donald Trump
In the life of ex-US President Donald Trump (77), the legal issues surrounding him have had a mix of positive and negative outcomes. At the close of May, a court in New York City found him guilty in all 34 charges regarding the concealment of hush money payments, a decision with significant repercussions. However, in another major case, Trump managed to obtain a significant win.
In the state of Georgia, the US, there is another legal battle against Trump. The accusation: after losing the 2020 election, he attempted to influence the election results by requesting the state's election official to uncover an extra 11,000 votes in his favor. These votes would have been enough to sway the extremely close race in Trump's favor. A total of 41 charges are targeting Trump and other defendants. Trump's legal team has now managed to delay the trial until next year, as reported by CNN.
Prosecutor's bias questioned
The appellate court consequently overruled Judge Scott McAfee's decision. It was convincingly argued in the appeal that the prosecutor, Fani Willis, had a possible conflict of interest that demanded careful examination beforehand. This examination is predicted to be concluded by the end of March of the coming year - well after the upcoming US election in November 2024.
The postponement of all legal proceedings appears to have been the intended strategy of Trump and his legal team from the beginning. They can now view the delay in the Georgia case as a major triumph. If Trump wins the presidency again by November 2024, the case could potentially be dismissed.
Two other crimes are still pending against Trump: there's also a federal case for election meddling. Additionally, he faces charges in Florida for the illegal possession of highly classified government documents. It is generally viewed as impossible for a verdict to be reached before the US election in the fall of this year in either case.
Concentrating on July 11th
At least in the case of the hush money charges involving former porn star Stormy Daniels (45), there's a crucial date this year: On July 11th, the punishment will be announced, including the fine and/or prison sentence. Trump potentially faces up to four years in prison for this offense. However, it's more probable that he'll avoid prison with a monetary and/or probation sentence instead.
Despite the sentence, the verdict is a milestone in US history: for the first time, an ex-president has been found guilty of a crime.
