Stormy Daniels case, judge postpones sentence for Trump

Judge Juan Merchan's ruling in the case of payments to porn star Stormy Daniels has been postponed until 19 November to give the president-elect's lawyers time to make new arguments on how his election victory will affect the case. Merchan could decide to overturn the conviction based on the Supreme Court's ruling on presidential immunity.

It was Trump's lawyers who had requested the postponement, arguing that there are 'strong reasons' to ask for the case to be dismissed. Trump had been convicted by a jury in May of falsifying company accounts to cover up an off-the-books payment made in 2016 to porn star Stormy Daniels.

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo asked for the judge's remand, arguing that "these are unprecedented circumstances and the arguments raised by defence counsel require careful consideration to ensure that any further steps in this proceeding adequately balance the competing interests of (1) a guilty jury verdict following a trial that has a presumption of regularity; and (2) the Office of the President." Trump's lawyer Emil Bove, on the other hand, argued that the conviction should be overturned. "This is necessary to avoid unconstitutional impediments to the president's ability to govern," the lawyer wrote.