No one else would ever get this treatment after refusing to acknowledge his guilt even after conviction, refusing to show any hint of remorse, and repeatedly showing incredible disrespect and contempt for the court and the jury and the prosecutors and the witnesses and the judicial process, not to mention all the lies and intimidation.

The non-sentence is an insult to the prosecutors and the members of the jury and the witnesses, who will spend the rest of their lives in fear of the trump mob, all for the sake of what is basically just a symbolic, nominal victory.

Merchan had been one of the fiercest resistors, but has now only cemented for America that there is no justice when it comes to the privileged few.

that he could have. Deferred sentences, while uncommon, have been known to have been given before. I remember one, and I can't for the life of me cite it, but it happened in my youth. A guy was allowed to finish school and graduate before serving a sentence for something. It might have been burglary or something. I just don't remember the specifics.