Alvin Bragg: How Donald Trump Can Still Pay a Price for His Conviction

Bragg’s third, most innovative option invokes the “abatement doctrine,” typically applied when a defendant dies after a jury verdict. In most states (though not New York), the conviction remains on record even if the defendant dies before the appeals process is complete. A common practice is to note in the record that the defendant was convicted and that the presumption of innocence was therefore removed.

Bragg suggests that Merchan could adopt an analogous approach, recording that Trump was convicted but not sentenced, with the conviction neither affirmed nor reversed on appeal due to presidential immunity. Merchan thus could bring the case to closure and ensure it not distract Trump during his time in office. At the same time, however, he would formalize Trump’s convictions for the legal record.

These options, especially the third, are likely to infuriate Trump. When Trump filed his motion last week, it largely went unnoticed that he was seeking, unsurprisingly, a comprehensive victory: not just a reversal of his convictions but a complete erasure of the case from the historical record. He argued that just continuing the case through sentencing would have an unconstitutional impact on the office of the presidency.