The Manhattan judge overseeing the trial of President-elect Donald Trump has agreed to grant a stay of all deadlines associated with the felony sentencing proceedings against Trump in the final months before he takes office, a closely watched decision that allows Trump to avoid a maximum sentence of up to four years in prison.

The judge in the case, Justice Juan Merchan, granted the request, which suspends all deadlines, including the Nov. 26 sentencing date, to consider the effect of his election to the presidency.

Prosecutors had requested a break in the proceedings, which they said would allow them to better assess the impact of Trump’s new status as president-elect.

“The People recognize that these are unprecedented circumstances,” prosecutor Matthew Colangelo said in a letter to Judge Merchan.

Trump’s lawyers, who had filed a motion to drop the charges altogether, also supported the stay.

Trump was convicted in May by a Manhattan jury on 34 counts of falsifying business records, stemming from a case involving payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels.

SPECIAL ADVISOR JACK SMITH ASKS TO DROP TRUMP ELECTION INTERFERENCE CASE

Former President Donald Trump, left, speaks late in the day alongside his lawyer Todd Blanche during his financial trial in Manhattan. (Michael M. Santiago/Pool via USA TODAY NETWORK)

Merchan agreed earlier this year to a four-month delay for the legal proceedings, pushing back next steps until after the 2024 presidential election.

He set a deadline of November 12 to decide how best to proceed.

The decision comes after The Supreme Court declared in a July 1 ruling that presidents should have presumptive immunity from criminal prosecution for most actions taken as president.

The justices writing for a 4-3 majority said presidents have absolute immunity from any actions taken within the scope of “fundamental constitutional powers” as commander in chief.

A presumption of immunity also applies to other actions taken while in office, they said.

It is unclear, however, whether a president should receive the same level of constitutional protection for state convictions, and the issue has never been considered in court.

Trump officials on Tuesday welcomed the pause in legal proceedings. Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung told Fox News Digital that the pause makes “very clear that Americans want an immediate end to the militarization of our justice system, including in this case…so that we can unify our country and work together for the betterment of our nation.”

The November 12 deadline is separate from the sentencing hearing for all 34 convictions, which was previously set for November 26.

Rather, it is a self-imposed deadline by Merchan that allows him to review Trump’s presidential immunity claims and determine whether the Supreme Court’s July ruling on the scope of immunity should be enforced. apply at the state level.

Even if Trump’s convictions were upheld, the president-elect has a host of avenues to appeal the case or have the charges against him dismissed before the Nov. 26 sentencing hearing, making almost certain that he will not face any prison time.

STEFANIK SLAMS DEMOCRATS’ “FEAR TACTICS” ON TRUMP’S FILE WITH WOMEN ON IVF AND ABORTION

Former President Donald Trump, left, attends the first day of his trial at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York on April 15. Judge Juan Merchan poses for a photo in his chambers on March 14 in New York. (Angela Weiss/AFP via AP, POOL/AP)

The first would be to move the case from state court to federal court — something Trump’s lawyers had tried twice unsuccessfully in the months leading up to the election. However, their request to take the case to federal court now carries more weight, given Trump’s status as president-elect.

If that fails, Trump’s lawyers would likely appeal the convictions before the sentencing hearing, using the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling as grounds to have the charges dismissed.

They are also likely to use the immunity claim to reject parts of the evidence used by prosecutors in the New York case, including testimony from former White House communications director Hope Hicks.

Even if all else fails, legal analysts and former prosecutors have flatly rejected the idea that Trump would face prison time for these convictions.

“Understand that Trump will not go to prison even if Merchan imposes a term of incarceration. Although the charges are crimes, they are not serious enough under New York law to merit immediate detention; Trump will get bail pending his appeal,” said Andrew McCarthy, a former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, wrote in an editorial last week for Fox News Digital.

Judge Juan M. Merchan poses in his chambers in New York on March 14, 2024 in this file photo. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, file)

If Merchan had decided to keep the convictions intact, he could have sought additional advice from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, including whether Trump should be subject to state convictions as a sitting president – a question that has never been tested.

STEFANIK SLAMS DEMOCRATS’ “FEAR TACTICS” ON TRUMP’S FILE WITH WOMEN ON IVF AND ABORTION

Trump’s legal team would almost certainly have appealed any conviction as the Supreme Courtif necessary.

Trump is shielded from federal convictions under a longstanding Justice Department policy preventing U.S. attorneys from prosecuting a sitting president.

However, this precedent has never been applied to state convictions, giving Judge Merchan a little more leeway in deciding how to proceed.

Main entrance to the Trump Tower building in Manhattan. (Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images)

His decision comes days after Special Counsel Jack Smith filed a motion seeking to overturn all deadlines in the 2020 election interference case against President-elect Trump in Washington, DC.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Smith had been tapped by Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2022 to investigate both alleged efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election, as well as Trump’s retention of allegedly classified documents at his residence in Florida after leaving the White House. in 2020.

Although these charges have not been officially dropped, the special prosecutor appears to be moving in that direction, and Smith said his team plans to provide an updated report on the official status of the case against Trump on December 2.

Former Attorney General Bill Barr told Fox News Digital that state and local prosecutors and judges must abandon the “spectacle” of prosecuting the president-elect.