Last Week In Legal: All the Appeals Edition
Hunter's lawyers step on the proverbial rake, Trump appeals the fraud case, Bragg responds to Trump's hush money appeal, Jack Smith appeals Judge Cannon's ruling, and more.
Hunter Biden Legal Troubles
Tax Case
Judge Mark Scarsi has threatened to sanction Hunter’s defense team for false statements made in their filing to dismiss the case. Hunter’s lawyer, Mark Geragos, claimed in the motion that David Weiss did not bring the tax charges until he was appointed as a Special Prosecutor. Judge Scarsi responded by reminding the defense that he knew all about that failed plea deal, and that is evidence that Weiss tried to bring these charges before being appointed. He has given Biden’s team seven days to respond and that a failure to “file a timely and satisfactory response will result in sanctions.”
Business Fraud Case
Former President Trump has filed his appeal. In the motion, Trump’s legal team lays out seven reasons why the case should be overturned.
Judge Engoron ignored Appeals Court rulings,
Misapplied the law,
The fine for “disgorgement” is baseless because there was no victim,
The $464 million fine is unconstitutional because of the Excessive Fines and Due Processes clauses in both the NY and US Constitutions,
Cause of Actions two through seven should be dismissed because there are no “necessary elements of underlying provisions,”
There is no underlying violation of the law that was misapplied,
Judge Engoron did not understand how property value works and used the wrong valuation metrics to claim the properties in question were worth well below the actual value.
LawTuber Robert Gouveia went through the filing on his channel. Considering AG Letitia James’s recent comments that her singular focus is to help Kamala Harris beat Trump, as well as her statements from her own candidacy, it is clear that this case is political in nature. The motion mentions the political nature of the case in passing but doesn’t get into it in depth, nor does it get into the Judge’s antics in and out of the courtroom.