Ahead of the July 11 sentencing of former President Donald Trump in his hush money trial, the judge will offer Trump a chance to address the court, an expert said.
Bonnie Sard, a consultant with the Prosecutors' Center for Excellence and former Manhattan assistant district attorney, shared insights on the sentencing process during an appearance on “Mornings On 1” Friday.
“The prosecutor will make their recommendation about what they think an appropriate sentence would be. In this case, the defense will make their recommendation to the judge, the defendant will have an opportunity to address the court if he wishes to do so, and then the judge will impose sentence,” she said.
Trump was found guilty Thursday on all 34 felony charges of falsifying business records.
Sard said Judge Juan Merchan has a range of sentencing options, including "a non-incarceratory sentence of probation, or a fine, or it could be up to one-and-a-third to four years in jail."
Trump’s candidacy for president and the nature of the case will also play a large role in the judge’s sentencing decision, she said.
“In this particular case—which we keep using the word unique and unprecedented every time we talk about it—how divisive this case, this decision has been and will continue to be for this country, I think that will certainly spill over into the sentence no matter what it is,” Sard said.