US Supreme Court tasks Indian-origin judge with key decision in Trump case

The US Supreme Court has ruled on presidential immunity, leaving Indian-origin Judge Tanya Chutkan to determine how much of the federal criminal case involving Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn his defeat to Joe Biden in the 2020 election can proceed. Chutkan must decide which of Trump’s actions were official and must be excluded from the case and which were private acts that could go to trial.

The court’s 6-3 decision, with conservatives in the majority, declared that Trump has broad protection from criminal prosecution for actions within his official duties as president.

Tanya Chutkan, a judge on the US District Court in Washington, was appointed by former President Barack Obama. Her father, Winston Chutkan, is a doctor of Indo-Jamaican descent, and her mother, Noelle, is an Afro-Jamaican who was a prominent dancer with the National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica.

Tanya Chutkan’s great-grandparents were taken to Jamaica from India as indentured labourers, and her father was born on a sugar plantation, according to Britannica.

The court delegated to Chutkan, a judge on the US district court in Washington, faces the complex task of applying this immunity to the four-count criminal indictment brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith.

“It’s probably one of the most challenging trial court responsibilities, certainly in my lifetime, that any district judge has been required to do. It will be a roadmap for the future prosecution of the case,” Paul Grimm, a former federal judge at Duke University’s Bolch Judicial Institute was quoted as saying by Reuters.

Among the actions Chutkan must analyse are Trump’s public statements to his supporters before their January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, and his plan to organise alternative slates of electors to overturn Biden’s victory.

Chutkan must also decide if prosecutors can overcome the presumption that Trump cannot be prosecuted for pressuring then-Vice President Mike Pence to derail the certification of Biden’s victory.

“The immediate job that Judge Chutkan has is to clarify what can go to trial and what can’t,” said Jeremy Fogel, a former federal judge and executive director of the Berkeley Judicial Institute.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiring to defraud the United States, obstructing an official proceeding, and conspiring against the right to vote. The trial was delayed due to litigation over Trump’s immunity claim.

Chutkan has promised Trump about 90 days to prepare for trial once the case resumes in her courtroom, with the trial expected to last six to eight weeks.

If Trump wins the presidential election, he could direct the US Justice Department to end the case, reported Reuters.

JUDGE CHUTKAN’S EXPERIENCE AND STANCE

Chutkan has gained courtroom experience as a public defender.

She has shown little patience for Trump’s delay tactics and his attacks on the criminal justice system.

“The fact the defendant is engaged in a political campaign is not going to allow him any greater or lesser latitude than any defendant in a criminal case,” Chutkan told Trump’s lawyers during a hearing last year, reported Reuters.

Chutkan has previously given harsher sentences to some Capitol rioters than those sought by prosecutors.

“She’s intense. She’s brilliant. She’s no-nonsense,” said Washington criminal defence lawyer Heather Shaner.

Trump’s lawyers unsuccessfully tried to remove Chutkan from the case, claiming bias.

Chutkan rejected Trump’s argument that he could not face prosecution for official actions taken as president, stating that the US presidency “does not confer a lifelong ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ pass”.

The Supreme Court’s ruling requires Chutkan to apply new guidelines in Trump’s case.

She must also consider a separate Supreme Court ruling that raised the legal bar for federal obstruction charges against people involved in the Capitol attack, which affects two of the four counts against Trump.

During a hearing last year, Trump attorney John Lauro praised Chutkan, saying she “hit the nail on the head” while making a point.

Chutkan responded, “That may be the last time you say that for a while,” drawing laughs in the courtroom, reported Reuters.