Prosecutor on Trump AVOIDING prison pending appeal

you're watching the legal breakdown so Glenn I am getting inundated with this question more than any other question if Donald Trump is sentenced to prison but he appeals will he have to begin serving his sentence immediately or will that sentence be stayed pending appeal you know Brian there's no definitive answer but let's talk our viewers through the two likely possibilities here generally when a defendant is convicted by a jury sentenced by a judge the next words out of the judge's mouth are typically step him back which means take him into custody so he can begin serving his sentence now in White Collar cases that doesn't always happen sometimes White Collar defendants because you know we treat them much better than the run-ofthe-mill defendants who don't have power privilege influence status they're allowed to go home and do what get their Affairs in order well isn't that lovely for them so so judge Maran can do one of two things first of all I believe he will impose a sentence of incarceration and we've talked before and perhaps we'll talk again as his July 11 sentencing date approaches about why that is my view um but once he imposes the sentence judge Maran can say and I hope he does Marshals step him back take him into custody it's time for him to begin serving his sentence of incarceration but if judge Maran declines to do that he can say I will stay the um the the requirement that you begin serving this sentence right here and right now while you appeal your conviction let's hope he doesn't do that but judge Maran can do it he has the authority to do it let's assume he doesn't let's assume he says Marshall stepping back and then Donald Trump will immediately file an emergency request with the appeals court in New York asking that they order his sentence of incarceration to be stayed or paused pending appeal and then it will be up to the appeals court to deal with that but here's why I started with there's no definitive answer we have a concrete example in this age of January 6th crimes and criminals of why this question is unanswerable we have two defendants Brian in Steve Bannon and Peter Navaro they committed the identical crimes two counts of contempt of congress by thumbing their nose at Congressional subpoenas they went through nearly identical trials they were both convicted each of them by different juries in a New York minute and then they were each sentenced to The Identical period of incarceration four months well guess what one was ordered to begin serving his sentence and is serving his sentence right now as we speak Peter Navaro the other under identical circumstances Steve Bannon was was never ordered into confinement and he got to appeal his case and he is still he's lost his appeal and he is still at Liberty he has yet to see the inside of a federal prison same defendant same crimes same sentence same circumstances dramatically different outcomes why what a difference a judge makes one judge the one that ordered Peter Navaro to begin serving his sentence is a good thoughtful solid respectable Fair impartial and independent jurist by the name of Amit MAA he happened to be a public defender in the courts back when I was a homicide prosecutor in the courts of Washington DC and he ordered Navaro into prison the other one Trump appointed judge Carl Nichols who has done Steve Bannon a solid Steve Bannon hasn't seen the inside of a prison yet what a difference a judge makes now you had alluded to this if judge sentences Trump to prison Trump wants to appeal judge michon says that he'll still be incarcerated pending appeal and then of course Trump is going to file an emergency uh an emergency motion or an emergency appeal with a higher Court Donald Trump has been talking all this time and all of his mouthpieces have discussed all this time about the the possibility of the Supreme Court swooping in to save him can you speak on that because they seem to be very bought in on this idea that the Supreme Court is going to you know come and help Trump at the end of the day Brian I think on the incarceration issue which is a a subset of the battles to be fought as Donald Trump tries to appeal his New York state criminal conviction I don't think the Supreme Court has a basis to weigh in on that you know the nature of the sentence imposed by a state court judge as long as it's not illegal in other words it doesn't exceed the statutory maximum punishment which this certainly will not the the question of a state court sentence and whether it should begin being served pending appeal or not is not an issue that I think the Supreme Court even has the lawful Authority the Constitutional authority to weigh in on but of course the next logical question is when has this Supreme Court been bound by the Constitution well let me let me ask you this let me ask you this would it be possible for them to say that they're going to take up the issue and stay any sentencing pending their you know decision to take it up in the same way that they really don't have any basis to take up this question of presidential immunity which is the question in the DC case but they're going to take it up anyway knowing that it's probably not going to go anywhere because we're talking about whether whether or not the Constitution allows for somebody to commit criminal acts while in office as if that's part of their presidential oath but it's the delay that Donald Trump is seeking and it's the delay that the Supreme Court is going to give him so in the same way can the Supreme Court take up this issue knowing that they don't have any jurisdiction over it but just allowing him to delay might be all that Donald Trump needs at the end of the day yeah I'm becoming concerned cuz you're asking questions like lawyers ask and and and I I don't know may maybe we've been doing this too long at this point but it's a great question here's the thing when you say that you know the Supreme Court doesn't really have any Authority or any reason to take up the absolute presidential immunity issue I agree with you a th% however they do have the jurisdiction to take it up so they're not acting unethically or in an unlawful Way by saying listen we have some interest in this issue as a constitutional matter and we're granting review and that's why everything in the trial court must come to a grinding halt that's why Donald Trump will not be brought to trial in DC for trying to overturn the results of the presidential election unless and until the Supreme Court Returns the case to judge Tanya chuin the presiding judge in DC so it's wrong as a matter of fact and law and constitutional precedent because there's no winning issue but they have every right to Grant review and take it up if they believe it is of enough constitutional interest to them so I think that is a slightly different circumstance then whether they actually have the lawful authority to take up um the question of a state court imposing a sentence and deciding whether that sentence should should commence or whether it should be stopped or paused or stayed pending appeal so now let me go to where we always end up when we're talking with the Supreme Court guess what there is no Authority above the Supreme Court that can call them out on their unlawful unconstitutional or unethical Behavior so if they want a grant review of a state court sentencing matter whether a state court sentence should commence or be stayed even if they have no constitutional reason or authority to do it guess what they're going to do it anyway and no one can stop them can you talk about the difference in terms of trump appealing the verdict in this case or appealing the sentence in this case can he do both can he appeal both up to higher courts does it make any difference so he can seek an emergency stay of the sentence say look I'm not arguing that it's unlawful but I just don't think I should begin serving a sentence of incarceration because I have so many meritorious issues to attack the underlying conviction that led to that sentence so he can appeal that on an emergency basis um but he can of course also appeal the conviction in its entirety arguing that you know judge Maran made this evidentiary ruling incorrectly and violated my rights in in this way and you know that's what litigants do when they lose a case they're sentenced then they batch up all all of their complaints on appeal and they presented in one unified appeal to the appeals court so he can do both both things they'll be done on a slightly different timetable and you know one is really a substance-based attack which would be an attack on the conviction itself and the other would almost be sort of a a procedural or an equitable argument hey hey hey don't make me start my jail term because I think I have winning issues attacking my conviction in its entirety but if I begin serving a sentence it's kind of like the hores out of the barn I'm already being punished when I maintain I shouldn't be punished in the first place because my conviction should be overturned now let's finish off with this I know that we've gotten used to the dilatory tactics the delay tactics of Judge Cannon of Samuel Clarence Thomas the rest of these Republicans on the Supreme Court if we want Swift accountability what does that look like in terms of the New York uh verdict being being appealed can can we see for example if Donald Trump wants to file an emergency appeal to a higher Court in New York from Judge michan to a higher Court what would it look like could we see the higher Court the appeals court in New York rule on that within like a couple of days and SWAT it down basically like would that be what Swift accountability looks like in my opinion Brian Swift accountability looks like Donald Trump being forced to begin serving his sentence as would almost any other Criminal criminal litigant um as soon as it's imposed by judge Maran particularly if it's a if it's a sentence to incarceration that is Swift accountability because then while he's serving his sentence he can take all the time he wants litigating it up through the appeals courts in New York and try to get it reviewed by the Supreme Court but the sentence should commence after he is sentenced because that's what accountability and Punishment looks like in the vast majority of criminal cases what I don't think will happen is the appeals courts in New York will set his substantive appeal attacking his conviction on some of some kind of a crazy accelerated track where they're deciding things in days and weeks and it's you know moving right through the system I don't see that happening I hope when he is sentenced to incarceration judge Maran does what's right I think for the country to punish Donald Trump for his 34 felony convictions these are convictions that he earned as a result of the crimes he committed to try to steal the 2016 presidential election and let's not forget during dep pendency of this case he also committed 10 other crimes and was found guilty Beyond A Reasonable Doubt by judge marshan of 10 counts of criminal contempt of court and he should also be punished for those well said said uh we will of course stay on top of all of this as this process continues to play itself out I hope that working through these thought experiments a little bit answers some of the questions that that the viewers have had uh and of course if you have more questions feel free to reach out to leave them as comments uh or to shoot us messages we'll always try to answer those questions the best we can and of course to see subsequent episodes where we do exactly that please make sure to subscribe Glenn is well on his way to a million subscribers I'm on my way to 3 million if you are not yet subscribed we'd really appreciate it if you could subscribe to both of our channels the links are right here on the screen I'm Brian Tyler Cohen and I'm Glenn kersner you're watching the legal breakdown [Music]

Channel: Brian Tyler Cohen

Views: 558,382

Keywords: Brian Tyler Cohen, Trump, Republicans, Democrats, brian cohen, politics, news, trump guilty, trump prison, glenn kirschner

Id: nlSo0m1L-Ww

Length: 12min 43sec (763 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 08 2024