The Daily Fuckup

A New York judge on Dec. 16, 2024, refused to throw out Donald Trump’s hush-money conviction after Trump asked the court to use the Supreme Court’s presidential-immunity ruling to undo the verdict. Justice Juan M. Merchan said the motion failed, leaving the Manhattan felony case in place. ([nycourts.gov](https://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/3dseries/2024/2024_24328.htm))

Merchan’s ruling rejected Trump’s effort to vacate the 34-count conviction for falsifying business records in the first degree. The judge said the post-trial immunity arguments did not change the result in the state case, and he concluded that any disputed evidence would not justify setting aside the verdict. ([nycourts.gov](https://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/3dseries/2024/2024_24328.htm))

The decision mattered because it kept the New York case active after the Supreme Court’s July immunity opinion gave Trump a new line of attack. It did not, however, change the separate federal posture. After Trump’s election in November, Special Counsel Jack Smith moved on Nov. 25, 2024, to dismiss the federal election-interference and classified-documents cases, a different procedural track from the Manhattan prosecution. ([nycourts.gov](https://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/3dseries/2024/2024_24328.htm))

In his written opinion, Merchan said Trump was not entitled to the relief he sought. The court’s bottom line was plain: the conviction stands, the state case is still alive, and the immunity ruling did not erase what the jury found in May. ([nycourts.gov](https://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/3dseries/2024/2024_24328.htm))