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   From: yourdime@outlook.com   
      
   NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s conviction has raised many political and legal   
   questions, but at least one issue is not in doubt: whether he will appeal.   
      
   He might even win.   
      
   The former president has made no secret that he plans to challenge the   
   verdict against him in the hush money case — and attorneys say he has an   
   extensive menu of legal avenues to pursue. Some think he has a decent   
   chance of a reversal.   
      
   “There is an appeal that could have legs,” said Arlo Devlin-Brown, a   
   former federal prosecutor who was chief of the public corruption unit in   
   the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office.   
      
   Trump’s first chance to challenge the verdict will come within 30 days of   
   his sentencing on July 11, at which point he can turn to New York’s First   
   Judicial Department appellate court, not far from where he just stood   
   trial. That court has such broad discretion to review jury findings that   
   it’s sometimes called “the 13th juror.”   
      
   Their attack is expected to focus on a few key issues, including the legal   
   theory that enabled prosecutors to transform 34 misdemeanor counts of   
   falsifying business records into a felony case against the former   
   president.   
      
   “We are going to take this as high and far as we need to, including to the   
   U.S. Supreme Court, to vindicate President Trump’s rights,” his attorney   
   Will Scharf told CNN on Friday.   
      
   Unlike the trial that wrapped up with Thursday’s verdict, the appeal may   
   focus on largely arcane legal issues — not the salacious evidence   
   presented to the jury, said Devlin-Brown.   
      
   At trial, jurors found Trump guilty of falsifying business records with   
   the intent of concealing a plot to undermine the 2016 election. To prove   
   the underlying crime, jurors had to agree Trump used “unlawful means” —   
   but they did not have to agree on a singular unlawful act.   
      
   “The combination of the prosecution offering three different theories as   
   to how the false records could have violated state election law, limited   
   instruction on what some of those theories required, and the fact that   
   jurors were not required to agree on which had been proven creates a real   
   issue for the appeal,” said Devlin-Brown.   
      
   The way the appellate division is structured could also cut in Trump’s   
   favor. The division is dubbed the “13th juror” in New York because judges   
   are allowed to make decisions based on the facts of the case — not only   
   the law.   
      
   “It’s an underappreciated power that the appellate division has,” said   
   Diana Florence, a former Manhattan assistant district attorney.   
      
   Trump will be an unprecedented appellate defendant, but he could have at   
   least one thing going for him, Florence said.   
      
   “It’s a loophole, if you will, that exists very uniquely in the appellate   
   division of New York. Given there’s an inherent kind of bias with white-   
   collar defendants, who are treated less severely, to that extent it could   
   cut in his favor,” she added.   
      
   Trump is also likely to appeal on the grounds that an expert witness he   
   sought to have testify, a former head of the Federal Election Commission,   
   was restricted by the judge from testifying about whether Trump violated   
   campaign finance laws, said Alexander Reinert, a professor of litigation   
   at Cardozo School of Law.   
      
   Trump ultimately declined to call the witness, Bradley Smith, and Trump’s   
   remarks on Friday suggested his appeal would concern Justice Juan   
   Merchan’s ruling regarding Smith.   
      
   Trump may also argue that some of the testimony the judge did allow was   
   prejudicial, particularly Stormy Daniels’ detailed account of having sex   
   with Trump, as well as some of the testimony connected to the “Access   
   Hollywood” tape. Trump’s lawyers might appeal on the ground that the   
   material “wasn’t relevant and the jury didn’t need to hear it in order to   
   make a conviction,” said Lauren-Brooke Eisen, a former prosecutor in the   
   Manhattan district attorney’s office who is now a senior director at the   
   Brennan Center for Justice.   
      
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   starters, they were both appointed by Trump.   
      
   And then there are a handful of issues that Trump’s lawyers repeatedly   
   raised prior to the trial and throughout the process, including whether   
   the judge should have recused himself and whether Trump deserved a change   
   of venue. Trump’s lawyers made multiple requests for Merchan to step   
   aside, citing his adult daughter’s work for a consulting firm that has   
   Democratic clients. And they have often complained about the trial taking   
   place in Manhattan, saying he couldn’t get a fair trial due to   
   overwhelming publicity and to the borough’s heavy Democratic bent.   
      
   On Friday, Trump’s lead lawyer at trial, Todd Blanche, suggested the   
   defense team’s sights had long been focused not on the trial itself, but   
   on the post-conviction process.   
      
   “We’re going to appeal, and we’re going to win on appeal,” Blanche said on   
   “The Today Show.” “That’s the goal. ... This is a step in the process of   
   our justice system, and the goal is to appeal quickly and hopefully be   
   vindicated quickly.”   
      
   https://www.politico.com/news/2024/06/02/trump-conviction-appeal-juror-   
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