Trump’s Legal Team Prepares To Appeal Conviction, Citing Unfair Trial And Flawed Testimony

In the wake of former President Donald Trump’s conviction on 34 charges politically motivated charges, his attorney Todd Blanche has announced plans to appeal the jury’s verdicts “as soon as we can,” while also noting that the defense team must first resolve court issues with Judge Juan Merchan.

Blanche, who said the defense was “prepared for a conviction,” outlined several reasons for appealing the verdict, including the difficulty of obtaining a fair trial given that all jury members “knew Donald Trump” either as a president, candidate or from his television show “The Apprentice.”

“Our system of justice isn’t supposed to be a system where every person that walks in the courtroom knows about the case,” Blanche argued, suggesting that the jury’s familiarity with Trump may have influenced their decision.

The attorney also raised concerns about the testimony of Stormy Daniels, which he believed was allowed to go on too long and included irrelevant details, as well as what he described as “fatal flaws” in the testimony of former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen.

According to CNN legal analyst Elie Honig, the strongest issue for an appeal by Trump could be the unprecedented decision by a state prosecutor to file charges against the former president on a federal election issue.

The appeal process is expected to begin after Trump’s sentencing on July 11, with the defense team planning to file motions concerning the case within a couple of weeks. Trump will have 30 days after sentencing to file a notice of appeal and six months to file a full appeal challenging how the case was handled in court.

The appeals process, which could take months or even years to conclude, will involve appeals to various courts, including the First Judicial Department of New York’s Appellate Division, the New York Court of Appeals, and potentially the U.S. Supreme Court.