The Daily Fuckup

Donald Trump finished 2024 with his New York hush-money conviction still standing and no sentence yet imposed. The key year-end ruling came on Dec. 16, when New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan denied Trump’s motion to vacate the verdict on presidential-immunity grounds. That left the May 30 guilty verdict intact as the year closed. citeturn0search0turn0search1

The timeline mattered. Sentencing had already been pushed off earlier, and on Nov. 22, 2024, Merchan adjourned it again while the court dealt with dismissal-related briefing. So by Dec. 30, the case was not moving through some fresh year-end twist; it was sitting in a paused posture with the conviction intact, sentencing still pending, and post-trial issues still unresolved. citeturn0search1turn0search2

That meant Trump ended the calendar year carrying an active felony conviction into 2025, even though the punishment phase had not yet arrived. The Dec. 16 order rejected the immunity theory that was supposed to wipe out the verdict, but it did not end the case. It preserved the judgment already reached by the jury and left the remaining sentencing and appellate steps for later. citeturn0search0turn0search1

The practical takeaway was simple: as of Dec. 30, 2024, Trump had lost the trial, the conviction still stood, and the court had not yet imposed sentence. The case was unfinished not because of a brand-new year-end filing, but because the earlier delays and the Dec. 16 ruling left the final procedural pieces for 2025. citeturn0search1turn0search2