Court actions Legal delays and immunity ruling likely to put a stop to criminal cases

Donald Trump's victory immediately spurred questions about the viability of the various criminal cases against him, including whether he will be sentenced as planned this month and whether he could pardon himself.

- Victoria Bekiempis

Trump, who was found guilty of 34 felony counts in May and will become the first US president with a criminal record, also faces charges in other state and federal courts for his apparent efforts to disrupt the electoral process and hoard classified documents.

The president-elect also faces hundreds of millions of penalties in civil cases, for sexual abuse, defamation and fraud.

Trump's delay-based legal strategy, which has proved highly successful for him, could mean he avoids punishment and jail in his New York City criminal hush-money case.

After the trial and guilty verdict, Trump was initially scheduled to be sentenced in July, then in September.

Trump's lawyers then asked the judge, Juan Merchan, for a further postponement so he could weigh the US Supreme Court decision that granted broad immunity to former presidents for official acts in office.

The decision held that unofficial acts carry no immunity, and his New York trial was largely focused on his 2016 efforts to bury negative stories about a sexual encounter with an adult film star, which happened before his time in the White House.