Donald Trump is seeking to overturn his criminal conviction in a New York State criminal case, following the Supreme Court's ruling on Jul. 1, 2024 to grant immunity from prosecution for "official acts" undertaken as president.

The decision exempts actions taken by presidents within their constitutional authority, but not those taken in a private capacity.

The New York Times said his lawyers will likely use the newly granted immunity decision to argue that prosecutors built their case partly on evidence from Trump's time in the White House.

However, the case is centred on acts Trump took as a candidate, not while he was president.

Trump's lawyers sought permission to file a motion to set aside the verdict soon after the Supreme Court's decision.

The letter, sent to the judge overseeing the case, will only be made public on Jul. 2, 2024, (U.S. time) at the earliest.

Decision passed with a 6-3 ruling

The immunity decision was passed by the Supreme Court with a 6-3 ruling, where six conservative justices ruled in favour and three liberal members dissented.

The decision meant a president “may not be prosecuted for exercising his core constitutional powers, and he is entitled, at a minimum, to a presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his official acts”.

The ruling makes it "highly unlikely that the 45th president will go to trial on charges of trying to subvert the 2020 election before voters cast ballots in this year’s presidential contest", The Washington Post reported.

If and when a trial does proceed with the lower court, it may be with significantly lesser evidence.

"A dangerous precedent": President Biden

U.S. President Joe Biden said the U.S. Supreme Court's decision sets "a dangerous precedent".

"The power of the office will no longer be constrained by the law, even including the Supreme Court in the United States," said Biden. "The only limits will be self-imposed by the president alone."

Biden also took this chance to reiterate his position as the Democratic Party's presidential candidate, adding, “I know I will respect the limits of the presidential powers I have had for three and a half years, but any president, including Donald Trump, will now be free to ignore the law.”

This comes after voters voiced concerns over the suitability of Biden's candidacy as he "stumbled over his words" against Trump's "repeated numerous falsehoods" during the Jun. 27 presidential debate, as described by Al Jazeera.

Since then, many Democratic insiders have urged the president to step down so a more suitable candidate can replace him.

The US presidential election is set to be held on Nov. 5, 2024.

The New York hush money trial

Trump was convicted on May 31, 2024, in his New York state hush money trial, where jurors agreed that Trump was guilty of falsifying business records to conceal a payment of US$130,000 (S$175,500) to adult film star Stormy Daniels, in return for her silence about an extramarital affair the two had.

Trump previously sought to move the case from state to federal jurisdiction in 2023, with his lawyers arguing that the allegations involved official acts within the remit of his presidential duties, as reported by CBS News.

A federal judge rejected the argument, writing that Trump failed to show that his conduct was "for or relating to any act performed by or for the President under colour of the official acts of a president."

U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein said the evidence overwhelmingly suggests the matter was purely personal and a cover-up of an embarrassing event.

Trump is likely to remain as the Republican Party's candidate and run in the presidential election, as there is nothing in the U.S. Constitution that bars a convicted criminal from running for the presidency.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on Jul. 11, 2024.

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Top image via Trump's Facebook.