‘Very Unusual’: CNN’s Elie Honig Explains What Will Likely Happen With Trump’s Upcoming Sentencing

CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig said President-elect Donald Trump’s attempt to cancel his upcoming sentencing in relation to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case against him will lead to a legal back-and-forth between the prosecution and defense.

Judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding over the criminal case, ruled Friday that Trump must appear for his sentencing either in-person or virtually on Jan. 10, ten days before his inauguration. The judge has indicated that the president-elect is highly likely to receive an unconditional discharge which will lead to no jail or probation time, Honig said.

“The judge has made as clear as possible in the ruling that he made Friday night that he intends to sentence Donald Trump to what we call an unconditional discharge, meaning no prison time, no probation, no fine, no community service, no nothing. And b), that in order to accommodate President Trump’s status as president-elect, he’s willing to hold the proceeding by Zoom, which is very unusual,” Honig said. “So that’s all that’s at stake with this sentencing coming up on Friday, but as you know, that would make this conviction formal. A document, a piece of paper called a Judgement of Conviction, would issue upon sentencing, so that would formalize Donald Trump’s status as a convicted felon.”

WATCH: 

📺 Embedded media — coming soon

Trump notified the court Monday that he intends to cancel the upcoming sentencing and appeal Merchan’s rejection to dismiss the case over presidential immunity and his victory in the 2024 election. His legal team argues that the judge should delay all sentencing hearings and all deadlines relating to the case until the president-elect’s immunity appeals are “fully and finally resolved.”