The judge at Donald Trump criminal money deal The New York court is expected to decide Tuesday whether to overturn Trump’s conviction, based on the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling on presidential immunity.

A jury Trump convicted in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records related to a hush-money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniel to silence allegations about a sexual relationship with Trump in 2006 to improve his electoral prospects at the 2016 presidential election.

If Judge Juan Merchan upholds the conviction, sentencing in the case is scheduled for Nov. 26, less than two months before Trump’s inauguration.

While the $130,000 payment preceded Trump’s ascension to the presidency, Trump claimed that prosecutors filled “glaring holes in their case” with evidence related to official acts he later performed during his mandate – which the Supreme Court ruled prohibited in its July ruling. on presidential immunity.

Prosecutors argued that the case centered on “entirely personal” conduct that had “no relation to any official duty of the presidency.”

“(T)“The evidence that he says is affected by the Supreme Court’s decision is only a fragment of the mountains of testimony and documentary evidence that the jury considered in convicting him of the 34 counts beyond reasonable doubt,” prosecutors said.

Defense attorneys argued that certain evidence — including Trump’s conversations with then-White House communications director Hope Hicks and Trump’s social media posts as president — tainted the understanding of the case by the jury.

In one example cited by prosecutors, Hicks said Trump said he preferred the story of his secret payment be published after the election, suggesting he was aware that Daniels’ allegations could have had an impact on the race. In his closing statement, a prosecutor described the testimony as the final “nail in Mr. Trump’s coffin.”

In response, prosecutors argued that Hicks’ testimony “pertained solely to unofficial conduct” and would not be considered immunizing.

Trump has called for the verdict to be overturned or for the case to be thrown out entirely. If Judge Merchan overturns the conviction, he could order a new trial — which would be delayed for at least four years until Trump leaves office — or dismiss the indictment altogether.

Merchan has already delayed sentencing twice — first following the immunity ruling in July, and again in September to “avoid any appearance — however unwarranted — that the proceedings were affected or seeks to affect the upcoming presidential election. said the judge.

After Trump’s election victory, he is expected to be inaugurated less than two months from his sentencing date, limiting Merchan’s options for punishing the president-elect, experts say.

Trump’s conviction carries a sentence of up to four years in prison, although first-time offenders normally receive lesser sentences.

Meanwhile, special counsel Jack Smith is expected to drop Trump’s two federal criminal cases — related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and retain classified documents after leaving the White House — based on a long-standing policy Justice Department date banning prosecution of sitting presidents. Trump’s election interference criminal case in Georgia has also been mired in delays, leaving his sentencing in New York as the last of his criminal obstacles before regaining the presidency.

In his September order postponing sentencing until this month, Judge Merchan described the case as “an isolated matter, at a unique time in the history of this nation.”