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(NEW YORK) — The judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s criminal hush money case in New York has postponed sentencing to Sept. 18, according to a letter sent to the parties.

The move came after the Manhattan district attorney’s office said earlier Tuesday it would not oppose Trump’s request to file a motion arguing that his hush money conviction should be tossed based on Monday’s Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity.

“Although we believe defendant’s arguments to be without merit, we do not oppose his request for leave to file and his putative request to adjourn sentencing pending determination of his motion,” assistant district attorney Josh Steinglass wrote in a letter to Judge Juan Merchan.

On Monday, just hours after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its landmark ruling that Trump has some presidential immunity from criminal prosecution for actions taken to overturn results of the 2020 election, Trump’s attorneys sent a letter to Judge Merchan asking to him to “set aside the jury’s verdict” in his hush money case.

Judge Merchan, in his response, signaled to the parties that he would rule on Trump’s motion to set aside his conviction on Sept. 6.

He gave Trump until July 10 to submit papers and the DA’s office until July 24 to respond.

Sentencing had originally been scheduled for July 11, just days before Trump will claim the Republican nomination. Merchan has now set sentencing for Sept. 18 at 10 a.m. ET.

Trump in May was found guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a 2016 hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.

In the defense’s letter to Judge Merchan, which was made public Tuesday, defense attorneys argued Trump’s conviction should be thrown out because prosecutors relied on evidence and testimony they believe should have been protected by presidential immunity, including several of Trump’s tweets, a government ethics form, and the testimony of former Trump aide Hope Hicks.

“The verdicts in this case violate the presidential immunity doctrine and create grave risks of ‘an Executive Branch that cannibalizes itself,'” defense attorney Todd Blanche wrote. “After further briefing on these issues beginning on July 10, 2024, it will be manifest that the trial result cannot stand.”

Defense lawyers highlighted testimony from Hicks, who said Trump preferred the story of his alleged affair with Stormy Daniels — which he denies — come out after the 2016 election.

“I think Mr. Trump’s opinion was it was better to be dealing with it now, and that it would have been bad to have that story come out before the election,” Hicks testified. Prosecutor Josh Steinglass called the testimony “devastating.”

“She basically burst into tears a few minutes — a few seconds after that because she realized how much this testimony puts the nail in Mr. Trump’s coffin,” Steinglass said during his closing argument.

The defense appears to be relying on a portion of the Supreme Court opinion that said, “Testimony or private records of the President or his advisers probing such conduct may not be admitted as evidence at trial.”

Trump’s lawyers also argued that Trump’s social media posts about his former lawyer Michael Cohen, a 2018 filing from the Office of Government Ethics, and phone records from Trump’s time in office should have not been allowed.

During Trump’s effort to remove the state case to federal court in 2023, Judge Alvin Hellerstein determined that Trump’s alleged conduct in the case was “purely a personal item” outside of Trump’s official duties.

“The evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the matter was purely a personal item of the President — a cover-up of an embarrassing event,” Hellerstein wrote in a July 2023 decision denying Trump’s effort to remove the case to federal court. “Hush money paid to an adult film star is not related to a President’s official acts. It does not reflect in any way the color of the President’s official duties.”

Monday’s Supreme Court ruling determined that Trump is entitled to “at least presumptive immunity” from criminal prosecution for official acts taken while in office.

Trump’s hush money case is the second of his four criminal cases to be impacted by the ruling, which sent Trump’s federal election interference case back to the U.S. district court to determine which acts alleged in special counsel Jack Smith’s indictment constitute official duties that could be protected from liability and which are not.

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(FLAGSTAFF, Ariz.) — The husband of a missing Arizona woman has been arrested for assault as the search for her continues, police said.

Kelly Paduchowski, 45, was reported missing Sunday evening, according to the Flagstaff Police Department. Paduchowski had gone for a run and swim at Campbell Mesa Trail at about 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, according to authorities.

Her white Mazda CX-5 was located at the trailhead, Flagstaff police said.

The Flagstaff Police Department said they arrested her husband, 58-year-old Daniel Paduchowski, after interviewing family members and witnesses and reviewing evidence.

He faces aggravated assault charges, according to police.

Details about what led to the husband’s arrest have not yet been disclosed, and police are continuing to search for the missing woman.

Kelly Paduchowski, who is about 5-foot-8 and 138 pounds with blonde hair and blue eyes, was wearing black shorts, a gray shirt and running shoes, authorities said. Flagstaff police asked members of the public who might have information to call at 928-774-1414.

“The investigation is ongoing and the number one priority is to locate Kelly,” police said.

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(EUREKA SPRINGS, Ark.) — A small town in Arkansas boasts a statue of Jesus, 7 stories tall, arms outstretched over a community dotted year-round with Pride flags.

Eureka Springs is a town that welcomes all, a safe haven for the LGBTQ+ community. It has made history as one of the first towns in the South where gay couples have legally married.

One of those was Zeek Taylor and Dick Titus, who are widely considered the first male married couple in the South. The couple moved to Eureka Springs as adults for its small-town feel and arts.

“It is known as the town where misfits fit, which I like,” Taylor said.

Revered by the Osage tribe for its healing waters, Eureka Springs was considered sacred long before finding its place in the Bible Belt. Today, a commission protects just about every building within city limits, many considered historical landmarks.

The city model is “Keep it the same,” meaning they want to maintain its uniqueness despite having only 2,000 residents.

“I mean, it’s a small town, so we know each other,” Titus said. “And if I know you and I respect you and you have an opinion, I’m more and more apt to think it through and to discuss that with you.”

That respect for one another was shown in 2014 when many people from Eureka Springs as well as outsiders lined up very early at the courthouse for a marriage license after a judge struck down a voter-initiated constitutional ban on same-sex marriage on May 9, 2014, legalizing it.

On May 10, 2014, Taylor, Titus, Jennifer Seaton-Rambo, and Kristin Seaton-Rambo were first in line at the courthouse. Jennifer and Kristin are lifelong Arkansans who lived in Fort Smith at the time and drove at 2:30 a.m. to Eureka Springs to get their marriage license.

The courthouse doors were supposed to open at 9 a.m., but Taylor, Titus, Kristin, Jennifer, and others in line were stunned to be told they won’t be getting their licenses that day by the clerk.

“When the clerk showed up, she refused to issue a license to same-sex couples,” Taylor said. “In my mind, I really thought she was denying us our rights because of who we were.”

The clerk who refused to issue the licenses later said that her boss, the county clerk, was out of town.

“Our attorney was talking through the window and telling the officers, look, this is the court rulings, here’s the paperwork,” Kristin Seaton-Rambo said.

The clerk requested input from the attorney general, but after not hearing back, she decided to close the courthouse.

After waiting for hours and with dozens of couples in line, another clerk stepped up. She took it upon herself to help the couples obtain something they had dreamed of receiving for years: to be officially married.

“It was like an angel walked through the doors,” Jennifer Seaton-Rambo said. “And she did what she felt she needed to do, and she married us.”

Jennifer and Kristin Seaton-Rambo became the first same-sex couple in Arkansas to officially say “I do.” At the same time, Taylor and Titus became Arkansas’s first same-sex male couple.

Both couples wept with joy upon receiving their marriage license papers. Additionally, they were the first same-sex couples in the entire South to be married.

“Our conviction is important and there are so many, I cannot stress enough how many people are out there that we want to have the same kind of feelings that we’re able to get,” Jennifer Seaton-Rambo said. “And it’s not always we’ve had trouble and we’ve had times where we’ve been refused or what we feel discriminated against.”

A 2023 study from the Williams Institute found that of the nearly 14 million American adults who identify as LGBTQ+, more live in the South than in any other region.

That same year, the Human Rights Campaign declared a state of emergency for LGBTQ+ Americans, citing an unprecedented number of legislative bills targeting the community.

Arkansas was the first state to pass a ban on gender-affirming care for minors in 2021. A federal judge blocked it, then struck it down in 2023, and it never went into effect.

Eureka Springs has demonstrated how getting to know a stranger can change everything. It makes this place home for couples, despite and because of the challenges.

“The progression that I’ve seen, yes it’s been slow,” Kristin Seaton-Rambo said. “But it’s something that’s encouraging to see, and it’s encouraging to be a part of and to keep that growth growing so that we can get to that point where equality is for everyone.”

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(NEW YORK) — The Manhattan district attorney’s office said Tuesday it would not oppose former President Donald Trump’s request to file a motion arguing that his hush money conviction should be tossed, a move that will almost certainly delay Trump’s sentencing, which is currently set for July 11.

“Although we believe defendant’s arguments to be without merit, we do not oppose his request for leave to file and his putative request to adjourn sentencing pending determination of his motion,” assistant district attorney Josh Steinglass wrote in a letter to Judge Juan Merchan.

Prosecutors asked for two weeks to respond to the defense motion.

On Monday, just hours after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its landmark ruling that Trump has some presidential immunity from criminal prosecution for actions taken to overturn results of the 2020 election, Trump’s attorneys sent a letter to Judge Merchan asking to him to “set aside the jury’s verdict” in his hush money case.

Trump in May was found guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a 2016 hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.

In a letter to Judge Juan Merchan made public Tuesday, defense attorneys argued Trump’s conviction should be thrown out because prosecutors relied on evidence and testimony they believe should have been protected by presidential immunity, including several of Trump’s tweets, a government ethics form, and the testimony of former Trump aide Hope Hicks.

“The verdicts in this case violate the presidential immunity doctrine and create grave risks of ‘an Executive Branch that cannibalizes itself,'” defense attorney Todd Blanche wrote. “After further briefing on these issues beginning on July 10, 2024, it will be manifest that the trial result cannot stand.”

Defense lawyers highlighted testimony from Hicks, who said Trump preferred the story of his alleged affair with Stormy Daniels — which he denies — come out after the 2016 election.

“I think Mr. Trump’s opinion was it was better to be dealing with it now, and that it would have been bad to have that story come out before the election,” Hicks testified. Prosecutor Josh Steinglass called the testimony “devastating.”

“She basically burst into tears a few minutes — a few seconds after that because she realized how much this testimony puts the nail in Mr. Trump’s coffin,” Steinglass said during his closing argument.

The defense appears to be relying on a portion of the Supreme Court opinion that said, “Testimony or private records of the President or his advisers probing such conduct may not be admitted as evidence at trial.”

Trump’s lawyers also argued that Trump’s social media posts about his former lawyer Michael Cohen, a 2018 filing from the Office of Government Ethics, and phone records from Trump’s time in office should have not been allowed.

During Trump’s effort to remove the state case to federal court in 2023, Judge Alvin Hellerstein determined that Trump’s alleged conduct in the case was “purely a personal item” outside of Trump’s official duties.

“The evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the matter was purely a personal item of the President — a cover-up of an embarrassing event,” Hellerstein wrote in a July 2023 decision denying Trump’s effort to remove the case to federal court. “Hush money paid to an adult film star is not related to a President’s official acts. It does not reflect in any way the color of the President’s official duties.”

Judge Merchan has yet to rule on Trump’s request to file his motion or make any determination about the July 11 sentencing date.

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(NEW YORK) — A person of interest has been taken into custody for the attempted rape of a woman sunbathing in Central Park last month, police sources told ABC News.

The man, who has not been identified, has not been charged in the June 24 attempted sexual assault of a woman, but the sources said DNA links him to the incident.

The 21-year-old woman was alone and sunbathing in the Great Hill section of the park when a man came toward her exposing himself around 1:30 p.m. last Monday, New York Police Department Chief of Patrol John Chell said last week.

“She screams and gets up to run,” but “he tackles her from behind” and “tried to get on top of her,” Chell said.

The victim fought the man off and he fled, he added.

The New York Police Department released a sketch of the suspect on June 27.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(NEW YORK) — Rudy Giuliani’s association with former President Donald Trump has cost him his law license.

Giuliani has been disbarred, according to a decision handed down Tuesday by the Appellate Division First Department in New York.

The ruling is a consequence of Giuliani’s “demonstrably false and misleading statements to courts, lawmakers, and the public at large in his capacity as lawyer for former President Donald J. Trump and the Trump campaign in connection with Trump’s failed effort at reelection in 2020.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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