The Daily Fuckup

Donald Trump lost a procedural fight in his New York hush-money case on April 3, 2024, when Justice Juan Merchan denied a motion tied to presidential immunity as untimely. The filing asked the court to exclude certain evidence and adjourn the trial while the Supreme Court considered immunity questions in Trump’s federal election-interference case. Merchan did not reach the substance of the immunity argument. He said the motion was late and that Trump had already had earlier chances to raise the issue.([nycourts.gov](https://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/3dseries/2024/2024_50468.htm))

The decision focused on timing, not on whether presidential immunity can be used to keep evidence out of a state criminal trial. In the order, Merchan said Trump had been aware of the immunity theory for months and had already argued versions of it in other proceedings, including his federal removal effort and his motion practice in the election-interference case. Because Trump waited until March 7, 2024, to file the motion in the hush-money case, the court denied it in full and declined to decide whether immunity would bar the evidence he sought to exclude.([nycourts.gov](https://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/3dseries/2024/2024_50468.htm))

The ruling leaves the state case on track and removes one more attempt to reset the schedule. It also narrows the practical value of the immunity theory in this case, at least for now, because the court closed the door on the late-filed motion without testing the constitutional claim itself. Merchan also noted that Trump had not raised immunity against the core falsifying-business-records charges in the indictment, but instead tried to use it against proposed trial evidence.([nycourts.gov](https://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/3dseries/2024/2024_50468.htm))