Exploring Trump’s Guilt: A Look at the Ex-President’s Appeals Process

Donald Trump is widely expected to appeal his conviction in New York after a jury on Thursday found the former president guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records.

To begin the process, Trump, the first former president to become a convicted felon, will turn to the state’s Appellate Division, First Department, to weigh his arguments for why his conviction should be overturned.

The process could take several months or longer, and even if unsuccessful there, he could turn to New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals.

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Karen Agnifilo, a legal analyst and former Manhattan prosecutor, told the Washington Examiner the appeals process could last for years but that it must begin sometime during the next month.

“He has to file notice of his intention to appeal within 30 days,” she said, adding that Trump could then have months to file his actual arguments.

Trump’s sentencing is scheduled for July 11, but the Appellate Division could also allow Trump to post bail instead of serve out any sentence, Agnifilo said.

Will Scharf, a Trump appellate lawyer, said after the verdict that the former president’s legal team will push to speed up the appeals process.

“We are going to appeal as quickly as we can,” Scharf said on Fox News. “We will seek expedited review of this case.”

Scharf said Trump’s legal team would ensure appeals courts “understand the potential ramifications to our legal system if this unjust verdict is allowed to stand.”

Asked whether Trump’s legal team could find a way to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the appeal quickly, Scharf said the team is “actively considering all options.”

A chorus of Trump’s allies were quick to defend Trump when the jury announced its verdict, and many projected confidence that Trump would prevail on appeal.

“This political persecution, designed to interfere with the 2024 election, was a disgusting abuse and weaponization of the criminal justice system,” former New York Republican gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin said in a statement. “This ruling is obviously going to be overturned on appeal”

Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) said on X, “This was a sham show trial. The Kangaroo Court will never stand on appeal.”

Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Lindsey Graham (R-SC) predicted Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential candidate, would win on appeal and win the election.

Legal experts have pointed to various vehicles Trump could use to bring his appeal. One could be that he argues porn star Stormy Daniels, a witness who testified against Trump in the case, delivered testimony that was gratuitous and unfair to Trump.

“They’re going to claim that the testimony of Stormy Daniels was too salacious, outside the bounds, prejudiced the jury,” George Grasso, a retired New York state judge, told Reuters.

During her time on the witness stand, Daniels went into extended detail about an alleged sexual encounter she had with Trump nearly two decades ago, prompting Judge Juan Merchan to scold her for elaborating and to lament to attorneys her level of detail.

Trump attorney Todd Blanche called for a mistrial at the time, but Merchan denied the request.

“But now we’ve heard it, and it is an issue. How can you unring the bell?” Blanche had asked, calling her testimony “extraordinarily prejudicial.”

Trump could also raise on appeal his concerns about Merchan’s daughter, an executive at a top marketing firm for Democratic politicians.

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Trump has repeatedly said Loren Merchan’s job created a conflict of interest for the judge, and the former president twice sought Juan Merchan’s recusal because of it, but the judge denied his requests both times.

Numerous legal experts have also suggested that Trump’s team could cite the jury instructions on appeal. Juan Merchan instructed jurors that they did not need to agree on what “unlawful means” of influencing the 2016 election Trump engaged in that warranted elevating his misdemeanor charges into felonies.