Looming over Trump’s conviction: Reversal by the ‘13th juror’

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The former president has an extensive menu of options to pursue in his appeal.

Former President Donald Trump’s first chance to challenge the verdict will come within 30 days of his sentencing on July 11. | Alex Kent for POLITICONEW 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.

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. 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.

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...READ MORE