Trump hush money judge 'still has another couple of tricks up his sleeve': legal expert

During an appearance on MSNBC to discuss Judge Juan Merchan instructing Donald Trump and his lawyers that he will go forward with sentencing in the hush money trial, former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance stated she thinks the judge may have a few surprises still in store.

Speaking with host Katie Phang about the Jan. 10 court date related to now-president-elect's conviction by a jury on 34 counts of falsifying business records, Vance said the judge had no choice when it comes to not incarcerating the newly-elected Trump.

However, she predicted Judge Merchan will use the hearing to send a message to the country.

ALSO READ: Merrick Garland's last task and the explosive evidence that could save America

"Why not just sentence him for the 34 felonies that a jury found him guilty for and just hold it in abeyance until he's done serving in office?" Phang, herself a former prosecutor, asked.

"So let me try to talk you off the ledge of this one a little bit, Katie, and we'll see if it works," Vance replied. "I think what the judge is doing here is he's trying to send a final message about the rule of law to a country that disregarded it when it voted to re-elect Donald Trump"

"And here's the technical legal skinny behind what he's doing," she continued. "Almost certainly if he had sentenced Donald Trump to custody and tried to incarcerate him, that sentence would have been suspended. And even if he imposed the conditions that we traditionally associate with a criminal conviction, fines or a term of probation and supervised release following the pronouncement of sentence, those two would have been reversed on appeal by an appellate court because they would have infringed on the presidency."

"Whether we like it or not, that's how the law would look," she admitted.

"Judge Merchan is doing the best he can in a really terrible situation that none of us wanted to be in to try to at least send home a message that there is still, if not accountability for Donald Trump, accountability for others," Vance told the host. "That the criminal justice system can be used in virtually all cases. Look, I know neither one of us finds that to be completely satisfying, and I think we need to acknowledge that that's a problem here, but this is a judge who I think still has another couple of tricks up his sleeve."

Watch below or at the link.

- YouTubeyoutu.be