From: Loran <loran@invalid.net>
Newsgroups: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh,can.politics,alt.politics.trump,alt.politics.liberalism,alt.politics.democrats,alt.politics.usa.republican
Subject: Re: THIS Is THE Epitome of Liberal Hypocrisy
Date: Wed, 19 Jun 2024 11:48:07 -0600
Organization: A noiseless patient Spider
Alan wrote:
> Trump's lawyers made a motion for that...
https://thefederalist.com/2023/04/10/yes-the-statute-of-limitations-has-passed-on-braggs-get-trump-case/
We have recently learned a few more things about the charges brought by
District Attorney Alvin Bragg against former President Donald Trump. One
thing is for sure. The D.A.âs team checked some of their basic knowledge
of the law at the door.
In New York, misdemeanors must be prosecuted within two years of the
date of the offense. Felonies like those Bragg has alleged must be
prosecuted within five years or be forever barred by the statute of
limitations. These are not new, complex, or difficult-to-manage rules
and deadlines. Team Bragg is aware.
The D.A. has charged Trump with felonies for a variety of reasons, one
of which is to trigger the five- rather than two-year limitations period
on bad bookkeeping crimes. Felonies often bring jail time, which is the
leftâs fever dream for Trump.
Statutes of limitations are firm dates. There is little leeway for a
prosecutor to ask a judge to set aside the statute to allow a
time-barred charge to still proceed to trial. Putative criminal
defendants have a right to rely on the passage of time as a complete
defense to potential charges. Prosecutors must work in a timely fashion
and are perpetually on the clock. That does not change simply because
their target is an important person.
Bragg is largely also stuck with the formal findings of other courts
regarding when certain events occurred on which he premises his charges.
Everyone but Bragg, including his predecessor as Manhattan D.A., federal
prosecutors, and the Federal Election Commission, had years to charge
Trump with crimes within various statutory limitations periods and
decided not to do so. Federal prosecutors did, however, charge candidate
Trumpâs former lawyer, Michael Cohen, with crimes related to the same
âhush money,â and he went to prison. That was a document-intensive
process, and the official papers filed in that case do not help Braggâs
case against Trump.
According to Cohenâs filed-in-federal-court sentencing memorandum, the
Trump Organization âfalsely accounted for these (hush money) payments as
âlegal expenses'â sometime in 2017. Thus, the D.A. had to bring any
misdemeanor charge related to that transaction in 2019 and any felony
charge in 2022 to survive a defense motion to dismiss. Braggâs grand
jury handed up charges in 2023 after the five-year limitations period
expired.