The Manhattan judge who oversaw Donald Trump's “hush money” criminal trial is expected to announce next week whether the president-elect's historic felony conviction will stand.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan had already delayed handing down the ruling after the election for more than four months – leaving until next Tuesday to decide whether to overturn the ruling.

Trump's stunning election victory will further embolden his legal team to “ensure that a conviction never occurs,” Paula Reid, CNN's chief legal affairs correspondent, noted late Wednesday.

“Here they will argue to the judge that the conviction should never occur because Trump is now the president-elect,” Reid noted.

“They will say that he is entitled to the same constitutional protections as a sitting president and that he should be protected from state actors and, in this case, prosecutors.”

Trump, 78, faces up to four years in prison after being convicted of 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up payments to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election.

Legal experts have already predicted that Trump will not have a hard time.

“Merchan does not have the courage to imprison a former president or future president,” said former prosecutor Neama Rahmani.

“Now that Trump has won, his criminal problems are disappearing.”