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Manhattan Trump Charges Nullified by State’s Own Laws

This could kill the case altogether!

There has been a great deal of speculation of late regarding the integrity and the viability of the case being brought against Donald Trump by Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg, with several legal experts having already claimed that there is little chance of a conviction over the horizon.

These are unprecedented times, after all, as a former President has never before been indicted on a felony crime.  Trump has long suggested that the affair is little more than a political “witch hunt” designed to defame him ahead of his 2024 reelection campaign.

An analysis of New York State’s own laws seem to reiterate that likelihood, as the crimes Trump is said to have committed fall far outside of the legal statute of limitations.

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.’s 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 left’s fever dream for Trump.

And, importantly:

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.

In order to maintain a healthy justice system, all Americans must be held to precisely the same standard as another, and extending the statute of limitations in order to target Donald Trump specifically would do great harm to the image of impartiality that we are trying to uphold.

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