New York judge set to decide whether to dismiss Trump’s criminal conviction

A New York judge will decide Tuesday whether to dismiss President-elect Donald Trump’s felony conviction in Manhattan in light of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that granted presidents immunity for official acts.

Even if state Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan leaves the convictions intact, he must decide whether to proceed with sentencing on Nov. 26.

A jury found Mr. Trump guilty in May on 34 counts of falsifying business records in the hush money case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruling in midsummer added a wrinkle to the case. Defense attorneys say prosecutors used tweets and other evidence from Mr. Trump’s time in office in 2017 that should not have been submitted.

Prosecutors say the evidence did not rise to official acts and should not taint the case.

The immunity decision is the first of two tough decisions confronting Judge Merchan.

Mr. Trump’s lawyers have delayed sentencing multiple times and are expected to try again, given that Mr. Trump is steeped in a presidential transition. They might also try to move proceedings to federal court given Mr. Trump’s status as the incoming president.

Judge Merchan might want to proceed with sentencing, though he’s unlikely to give prison time to a person who just received nearly 75 million votes.

At trial, prosecutors said Mr. Trump criminally concealed a hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels around the 2016 campaign with an intent to violate election laws.

They said Mr. Trump paid Ms. Daniels through his then-lawyer, Michael Cohen, and concealed reimbursements to the lawyer in 2017 by misidentifying checks.

At trial, the ex-president’s lawyers said he was busy running the country and thought he was paying Mr. Cohen for legal services, so his team logged the checks in that manner. They said the trial was politically motivated and designed to thwart Mr. Trump’s political ambitions.

Mr. Trump’s status as a convicted felon did not prevent him from winning by a landslide in the Electoral College and coming out on top in the popular vote.