New York Judge Juan Merchan decided to delay former President Donald Trump's sentencing on his New York business records convictions until after the election to allow himself more flexibility in sentencing the GOP nominee, Alan Dershowitz, Harvard Law professor emeritus, told Newsmax Sunday.
But, Dershowitz said on Newsmax's "Sunday Report" he does not think Merchan will sentence the GOP presidential nominee to prison.
"I think he might suspend the sentence, but I think he's going to say this conviction warrants imprisonment," he said. "Of course it doesn't. It warrants nothing, but I think that's what he's going to do or give him a probationary sentence and home confinement."
Meanwhile, Dershowitz said Merchan's decision to delay the Trump sentencing comes as no surprise.
'"I thought it would happen," Dershowitz said. "It gives [Merchan] a lot more freedom and flexibility. If Trump were to lose the election, he could actually sentence him to prison. He wouldn't be able to sentence him to prison if there were an ongoing election and he was still a candidate."
Still, Dershowitz argued that the case against Trump is a "total fraud" and the judge and prosecutors should be "disciplined" for bringing the case to court.
"There's no crime," he said. "Look, I am probably the most experienced criminal lawyer in this country with 60 years of teaching, practicing, and writing about criminal law. I don't understand the charges."
Trump was found guilty by a jury earlier this year of 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with hush money payments to Stormy Daniels, a former adult film actress who says she and Trump had a sexual tryst.
Trump has denied all wrongdoing as well as Daniels' claims.
Dershowitz said Sunday that the charges would be misdemeanors that would be barred by the statute of limitations, but "they magically tried to turn it into a felony."
"It's the most absurd criminal charge I've seen in my 60 years of being an expert in criminal law," said Dershowitz. "And if I can't figure it out, how do you expect the defendant, a nonlawyer like Donald Trump, to understand that? By allowing his accountant to list the legal expense, he would be committing a felony based on this combined, felony misdemeanor statute of limitations."
And as there is no case, the charges should be dismissed rather than potentially a matter that could put Trump behind bars.
"It just proves the weaponization [of justice]," he said. "If this man's name was not Donald Trump, there isn't a chance in a million that he would be prosecuted for it …it's an outrage to every American."
Dershowitz also on Sunday discussed a plea deal reached in Hunter Biden's tax evasion case this past week, and said he thinks "it was all" Biden's decision to plead guilty rather than drag his family through the "embarrassment of a trial."
"Abbe Lowell is a great lawyer, and I don't think he made the decision to proceed this way," said Dershowitz. "Look, there's a big difference between this case and the New York Trump case. This is a real crime, a crime that people generally don't get sent to prison for. But it's a real crime, and he's pleaded guilty."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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