NEW YORK (Reuters) -A New York judge on Wednesday denied Donald Trump’s bid to delay his April 15 trial on charges stemming from hush money paid to a porn star until the U.S. Supreme Court reviews claim to presidential immunity in a separate criminal case.
The Court is scheduled to hear the former U.S. President’s arguments that he is immune from federal prosecution for trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat on April 25.
His defense lawyers in the New York case in March asked Justice Juan Merchan to delay the trial until that review was complete, arguing it was relevant because prosecutors were seeking to present evidence of statements Trump made while he was president from 2017 to 2021.
In a court ruling on Wednesday, Merchan said Trump had waited too long to raise the issue.
“Defendant had myriad opportunities to raise the claim of presidential immunity well before March 7, 2024,” Merchan wrote.
Trump, the Republican candidate to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden in the Nov. 5 election, has pleaded not guilty in each of the four criminal indictments he faces.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New YorkEditing by Chris Reese and Franklin Paul)
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