Former President Donald Trump scored a major legal victory in July when a federal judge threw out charges of mishandling classified material.

However, this week saw the former president's lawyers fail to bring home another win in his New York criminal case. 

Defense pointed to Supreme Court's immunity ruling

According to the Epoch Times, attorneys Emil Bove and Todd Blanche sought to have a federal appeals court block Judge Juan Merchan from sentencing Trump on November 26.

Trump was convicted in May on 34 counts of falsifying business records to disguise hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

However, Trump's defense team maintains that much of the evidence used against him at trial should have been precluded by a recent Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity.

America's highest judicial body ruled in Trump v. United States that presidents enjoy presumptive immunity for official acts and absolute immunity for actions tied to their "core" constitutional duties.

Lawyers highlighted case's "novel and complex issues"

Bove and Blanche argued in a letter sent to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit that the current sentencing date does not "allow adequate time for interlocutory."

"Because of the significance of the Presidential immunity doctrine, the federal government and the public share an interest in that outcome—even if these novel and complex issues are to be addressed after the 2024 Presidential election," they wrote.

The attorneys went on to complain that their client's ability to get "review of the district court's ruling would be irreparably harmed, in the absence of a stay, because Justice [Merchan] could move forward with sentencing and a ‘judgment of conviction’ before the appeal is resolved.”

"While President Trump defers to the Court regarding whether an administrative stay is appropriate, a stay ... is still necessary to preserve the status quo," the pair went on to add.

Federal judge turns down defense request

However, USA Today reported that Judge Alvin Hellerstein turned down their request that the case be removed from Merchan's court.

Hellerstein pointed to the fact that Merchan had granted an earlier defense request that the sentencing debate be moved from its original date of September 18.

What's more, the federal judge also said that Trump's claim that Merchan is impermissibly biased against him should be addressed by state appeals courts.

For its part, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office maintained that moving Trump's case "would be extraordinarily disruptive and disrespectful" to Merchan's court.