Donald Trump Facing ‘Long Odds’ on Appeal, Lawyer Warns

Former President Donald Trump’s chances of successfully appealing his felony conviction in New York are “not good,” according to lawyer Roger Stavis.

Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee in this year’s presidential election, was found guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records by a jury in Manhattan on May 30. The former president maintains his innocence, claiming to be the victim of political “persecution” and vowing to appeal the verdict.

Stavis, a veteran New York City criminal defense attorney and a former prosecutor, noted in an opinion article published by The New York Times on Monday that he was familiar with the appellate court where any Trump appeal would be heard and suggested that the ex-president would not easily remove his “felon” label.

“As a prosecutor and a defense attorney for decades, I have argued hundreds of cases at this court,” Stavis wrote. “I’ve looked closely at the Trump case. The burning question now is, could his conviction be reversed on appeal? My answer is, the chances of that are not good.”

Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung described Stavis as “a long time Democrat donor who has funded liberal candidates and causes” in an email to Newsweek on Monday.

Stavis argued that the only avenue of appeal “likely to hold out anything more than the slimmest of hopes” for Trump would be a challenge to the “legal theory” of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, which was the reason the former president was charged with felony crimes instead of misdemeanors in New York.

The crime of falsifying business records, normally a misdemeanor, is elevated to a felony in New York if conducted with the intent to commit another crime. Bragg argued that Trump violated New York election law by trying to cover up “hush money” payments to porn star Stormy Daniels to benefit his 2016 presidential campaign.

Should Trump’s initial appeal fail, Stavis suggested that the former president’s legal team may be able to convince New York’s Court of Appeals—the state’s highest court—to take the “rare” step of allowing a second appeal “in light of the novel theory presented here.”

Trump’s only remaining option for recourse after the New York appeals court would be with the U.S. Supreme Court, which Stavis argued would likely not take on the case because “there is no federal issue directly implicated by this state prosecution.”

“By all indications Mr. Trump received a fair trial by a jury of his peers presided over by a very able jurist,” Stavis concluded. “He faces long odds against winning on appeal.”

Trump is set to be sentenced on July 11, two weeks after his first scheduled debate with President Joe Biden and just four days before he is expected to receive the GOP presidential nomination at this year’s Republican National Convention.

The ex-president insists that the Supreme Court should directly intervene in the state case, regardless of the court generally being unable to do so in state matters. Trump demanded in a Truth Social post earlier this month that the nation’s highest court “must decide” his fate before his sentencing hearing takes place.