Courts Reporter

Molly Crane-Newman

Molly Crane-Newman covers the state and federal courts in Manhattan for the Daily News, reporting on criminal and civil justice procedures impacting the lives and safety of all New Yorkers. She follows former President Donald Trump's New York cases and documented gavel-to-gavel the high-stakes trials of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, Harvey Weinstein, and Ghislaine Maxwell. She joined The News in 2015 after moving to the city from her native Dublin, Ireland.

It is unclear whether Arkan's plea will require him to cooperate in the feds’ ongoing corruption investigation into the mayor, but it is common for federal defendants who plead guilty in cases to agree to testify or cooperate with prosecutors in exchange for leniency at sentencing.

Politics |
Turkish businessman pleads guilty in Mayor Adams’ corruption case, could testify against mayor

January 11, 2025 at 10:22 p.m.

It is unclear whether Arkan's plea will require him to cooperate in the feds’ ongoing corruption investigation into the mayor, but it is common for federal defendants who plead guilty...

President-elect Donald Trump was sentenced Friday morning to "unconditional discharge" marking an official end to the case that involved hush money payments to a porn star and formally making Trump a convicted felon 10 days before his return to the White House.

Donald Trump sentenced, formally becomes convicted felon

January 11, 2025 at 12:32 a.m.

President-elect Donald Trump was sentenced Friday morning to "unconditional discharge" marking an official end to the case that involved hush money payments to a porn star and formally making Trump...

What will being a convicted felon mean for Donald Trump's presidency? Why is he being sentenced to "unconditional discharge?" What you need to know as the President-Elect faces sentencing Friday in NYC

What to know ahead of Trump’s historic sentencing in NYC

January 10, 2025 at 6:00 a.m.

What will being a convicted felon mean for Donald Trump's presidency? Why is he being sentenced to "unconditional discharge?" What you need to know as the President-Elect faces sentencing Friday...

The nation’s high court denied Trump’s request for an emergency stay, or pause, of the criminal proceedings in his Manhattan case as he fights a set of rulings by state Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, meaning his sentencing will go forward Friday in Manhattan.

News |
SCOTUS denies Trump bid to delay hush money sentencing

January 10, 2025 at 12:26 a.m.

The nation’s high court denied Trump’s request for an emergency stay, or pause, of the criminal proceedings in his Manhattan case as he fights a set of rulings by state...

Crime and Public Safety |
Trump bid to delay sentencing in hush money case in hands of Supreme Court after rejection by NY appeals court

January 9, 2025 at 6:58 p.m.

Trump is now waiting to see if the Supreme Court will intervene at his behest and stop the proceeding from going forward on Friday.

President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla.

Crime and Public Safety |
Trump asks Supreme Court to stop sentencing in hush money case

January 8, 2025 at 6:38 p.m.

The request to the nation’s high court came a day after Trump’s attorney failed to convince a New York appeals court to halt the sentencing scheduled for Friday.

Crime and Public Safety |
NY appeals court judge denies yet another Trump bid to stop sentencing in hush money case

January 7, 2025 at 6:01 p.m.

A lawyer for Donald Trump on Tuesday failed to convince a New York appeals court to stop his sentencing from going ahead this week as the president-elect fired off a...

Rudy Giuliani speaks to the media outside Manhattan federal court in New York after testifying in a contempt hearing, Friday.

New York News |
NYC judge holds Rudy Giuliani in contempt, grants sanctions for not providing info to Ga. election workers he defamed

January 6, 2025 at 7:43 p.m.

Manhattan federal court Judge Lewis Liman’s ruling came after he heard several hours of testimony from Giuliani about his efforts to make information available to Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye”...

Crime and Public Safety |
NYC judge denies Trump request to stop sentencing from going forward in hush money case

January 6, 2025 at 7:21 p.m.

The president-elect’s lawyers notified Judge Juan Merchan they would appeal the rulings along with other defense requests he denied in December and said he should “immediately vacate” the sentencing set...

Justice Juan Merchan rejected the incoming president’s motion to dismiss the hush-money indictment and vacate the jury's guilty verdicts, and said Trump must appear for his sentencing on Friday, Jan. 10, at 9:30 a.m.

Crime and Public Safety |
NYC judge orders Trump to appear for sentencing in Stormy Daniels hush-money case, signals no jail time

January 3, 2025 at 9:40 p.m.

Justice Juan Merchan rejected the incoming president’s motion to dismiss the hush-money indictment and vacate the jury's guilty verdicts, and said Trump must appear for his sentencing on Friday, Jan....

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