What is the current appellate status of Trump’s New York conviction for falsifying business records?
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Executive summary
Donald Trump’s conviction for 34 counts of falsifying New York business records was entered as a final judgment when Judge Juan Merchan sentenced him to an unconditional discharge on January 10, 2025, and the defense has pursued an immediate multi‑track appeal: a notice of appeal to the New York Appellate Division, First Department, and parallel efforts to move the case into the federal courts — both of which remain active and unresolved as the principal appellate posture [1] [2] [3]. The practical effect is that the conviction stands on the docket while appellate litigation — state and federal removal requests and other pre‑ and post‑judgment motions — could extend the dispute for years [2] [4].
1. The judgment that triggered the appeal: conviction and unconditional discharge
A Manhattan jury convicted Trump on May 30, 2024, of 34 counts of falsifying business records; Judge Juan Merchan entered a final judgment by sentencing Trump to an unconditional discharge on January 10, 2025, which leaves the conviction on the record but imposes no jail, fine, probation, or other penalty — and, crucially, enables the defense to pursue appellate remedies [3] [1] [4].
2. State appellate track: notice filed to the First Department
Following entry of judgment, Trump’s team filed a notice of appeal to the New York Appellate Division, First Department on January 29, 2025, initiating the direct state‑court appellate process that is the ordinary route for challenging a state criminal conviction and its legal rulings below [3]. The First Department is the intermediate appellate court that reviews errors of law, jury instruction issues, and trial‑level procedural rulings in New York County cases [5].
3. Parallel federal strategy: removal bid and Second Circuit argument
In addition to the state appeal, Trump’s lawyers sought to remove the case to federal court, arguing federal questions (including assertions tied to presidential immunity and other federal doctrines); they argued that removal to the Second Circuit was warranted at oral argument on June 11, 2025, and as of the last reporting the request remained pending — meaning there is an ongoing effort to transfer appellate review from the state path to a federal forum [3]. The removal bid, if successful, would upend the normal state appellate sequence and raise separate federal procedural issues and standards of review [3].
4. Key interlocutory rulings and preserved issues on appeal
Before and after the verdict, the defense raised multiple grounds it says will support reversal: claims of juror misconduct, challenges tied to jury instructions and evidentiary rulings, and arguments that recent Supreme Court decisions on presidential immunity affect the case — Judge Merchan rejected the juror‑misconduct dismissal theory and held that the Supreme Court immunity ruling did not nullify the conviction, rulings the defense has preserved for appeal [3] [1]. Scholars and practitioners noted that jury instruction and evidentiary claims are commonly the core of criminal appeals and could be fertile ground for appellate reversal or partial relief [6].
5. Timeline and likely duration: appeals could take years
Legal observers emphasize that criminal appeals and any federal removal fights can stretch for years; the unconditional discharge produces a final judgment that allows immediate appeals, but the appellate process — state briefs, possible oral argument at the First Department, potential appeal to New York’s Court of Appeals, and parallel federal litigation if removal succeeds — creates multiple layers and opportunities for prolonged litigation [2] [4]. Reporting shows that even routine interlocutory stays and bond questions in related Trump matters have taken months to resolve, illustrating the multi‑year horizon here [7].
6. What the current posture means practically
Practically, the conviction remains on the record while the First Department appeal is pending and while the defense’s federal removal efforts proceed; sentencing produced the final judgment that permitted appeal, but the appellate avenues remain active and unresolved, so the ultimate fate of the conviction depends on how those state and potential federal proceedings play out in the months and years ahead [1] [3] [2].