Should Trump be found guilty on docs case, does Jack Smith have any recourse if she gives him no prison time?

[Atamasama]

@Stratocaster

If you want more info, we’ll need the much-smarter person who provided the info (can’t recall who) to wander in.

You might mean me, except for the “much-smarter” part (so maybe you didn’t mean me). But I did some Googling and posted what I came up with.

You're Aileen Cannon. What are the downsides of a directed verdict?

I did some searching and apparently the crimes in the indictment do not carry any mandatory minimum sentences. So in theory, it would be legal for it to be a slap of the wrist, or really nothing. That seems a bit scary. But, while a “not guilty” verdict can’t be appealed by the prosecution, a sentence can be appealed. If he’s found guilty of all charges by the jury and the judge decides that he is fined $100 as the sentence, that can be appealed. Note that this isn’t the same as a directed …

However, none of the real lawyers contradicted me, so I’m guessing i actually got something right. And a real lawyer somewhat backed up at least part of what I posted, and gave some proper information.

You're Aileen Cannon. What are the downsides of a directed verdict?

Correct. And for what it’s worth, going below the sentencing guidelines is called a “downward departure”. Defendants routinely ask for them before sentencing, and there is a Supreme Court case (Booker) which stands for the proposition that the sentencing guidelines are only advisory (since they don’t want judges to just be robots at sentencing). But, if the judge goes below the guidelines, they will have to give reasons to survive appellate review (since the goal of the guidelines is to have…