New York prosecutors appeal in Manafort case seen as a backstop if Trump pardons him
NEW YORK — Manhattan prosecutors are attempting to revive their criminal case against President Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, arguing in a filing made public Thursday that they have legal standing to bring the indictment even though a state court judge dismissed it six months ago on double jeopardy grounds.
Manafort, 71, was charged in New York State Supreme Court with mortgage fraud, but his lawyers argued last year that the case too closely mirrored his 2018 federal conviction on bank fraud charges. The case was brought by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. and widely seen as an attempt to guarantee that Manafort would still serve prison time should Trump move to pardon him. Justice Maxwell Wiley tossed it in December.
The district attorney’s office filed its appeal in April. It public disclosure was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.
Although the state charges were based on the same conduct covered in one of Manafort’s federal cases, the district attorney’s office argued in its new filing that there are distinct elements contained in Manafort’s state indictment that exempt it from double jeopardy — the legal premise that protects a defendant from being convicted of the same offense twice.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/paul-manafort-new-york-trump-pardon/2020/07/02/97f2197c-bca0-11ea-80b9-40ece9a701dc_story.html
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