A New York judge has delayed former US President Donald Trump’s sentencing on charges stemming from hush money paid to an adult film actress until 26 November.
Mr Trump, the Republican nominee for president, had asked Justice Juan Merchan to push back his sentencing date until after the 5 November election.
Mr Trump had previously been scheduled to be sentenced on 18 September, less than two months before the election.
“This matter is one that stands alone in a unique place in this Nation’s history,” Judge Merchan wrote.
“Unfortunately, we are now at a place in time that is fraught with complexities rendering the requirements of a sentencing hearing, should one be necessary, difficult to execute.”
In August, Mr Trump’s lawyers argued there would not be enough time before the sentencing for the defence to potentially appeal Judge Merchan’s forthcoming ruling on Mr Trump’s request to overturn the conviction due to the US Supreme Court’s landmark decision on presidential immunity.
Judge Merchan had been scheduled to rule on that motion on 16 September.
The US Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling, which related to a separate criminal case Mr Trump faces, found that presidents cannot be criminally prosecuted for their official acts, and that evidence of presidents’ official actions cannot be used to help prove criminal cases involving unofficial actions.
Prosecutors argued their case involved Mr Trump’s personal conduct, not official acts, so there was no reason to overturn the verdict.
But they took no position on Mr Trump’s request to delay sentencing, saying in an 16 August filing they deferred to Judge Merchan on the question.
The prosecutors said an appellate court could delay the sentencing anyway to give itself time to consider Mr Trump’s arguments, a move they said would be “disruptive.”
The prosecution team also said Mr Trump’s court appearances required significant security and logistical planning and said there was a risk preparations could be made for his sentencing only to be called off.
Mr Trump’s six-week trial brought a heavy police presence to lower Manhattan.
In declining to advocate for a sentencing date before the election, the prosecution may have been conscious of Mr Trump’s oft-repeated claim that the Democratic prosecutor is seeking to interfere in his campaign, said George Grasso, a retired New York state judge who attended Mr Trump’s trial.
“He’s probably appropriately sensitive to opening himself up to charges from Trump and Trump supporters that he’s being too political,” he said.
“He threaded the needle.”
In the first-ever criminal trial of a former or current US president, Mr Trump was convicted on 30 May of falsifying business records to cover up his then-lawyer’s $130,000 (€117,000) payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels for her silence before the 2016 election about a sexual encounter she says she had with Mr Trump a decade earlier.
Mr Trump denies the encounter and has vowed to appeal the verdict once he is sentenced.
Falsifying business records is punishable by up to four years in prison, though punishments such as fines or probation are more common for others convicted of that crime in the past.
If Mr Trump wins the White House, he could potentially order the Department of Justice to drop federal election interference charges against him.
He would not have the authority to end the New York state case or an election interference case in Georgia.