DISCLAIMER: I am not a lawyer; I just watch a lot of LawTube content. Also, I’m not a big fan of Trump as a man. I think he was a decent President, but I don’t like him personally.
Tuesday, after an eight-day trial, a Jury took only three hours to render the first of many verdicts in lawsuits surrounding Former President Trump. This particular case was a defamation suit brought by E. Jean Carroll. In this case, the jury was asked to decide if they thought Donald Trump had raped Ms. Carroll sometime in ‘95 or ‘96 - Ms. Carroll could not nail down a date for the event. The jury ultimately found that while Donald had NOT raped her. He had, however, sexually abused her; therefore, he defamed her when he said she wasn’t his type and called her a liar.
What is the difference? Well, that’s where things get a little confusing. Definitions found at The Conversation say that rape would be actual penetration, but sexual abuse can be just touching. Based on that definition, it would seem that the jury, like this author, didn’t believe that Donald could have gotten past the tights - that back in the late ’90s were like Spanx before Spanx were a thing - that Ms. Carroll claims didn’t get down past her knees, and also didn’t rip.
Regardless, Donald’s legal team will be appealing this judgment. Honestly, he has a good chance of winning the appeal. If you were following Matthew Russell Lee of InnerCityPress and Robert Gouveia’s coverage of this case, you already know just how biased the judge was. (Matthew was in the courtroom all eight days and live-tweeted the entire trial from start to finish.) At about the halfway point in the trial, Trump’s lawyers filed an 18-page motion for a mistrial, detailing just some of the ways in which Judge Lewis Kaplan interfered in the Trump team’s attempt to defend their client, including making objections on behalf of Ms. Carroll, reprimanding and undermining the defense lawyers in front of the jury, and so much more. The motion is recommended reading for anyone who wants a better understanding of just what the Trump legal team was up against. Judge Kaplan effectively made it clear to the Trump lawyers that he would not let them properly do their job, which is why they did not even attempt to put on a defense. The Trump legal team, led by Mr. Tacopina, decided not to waste their time, take the L, and move to an appeals court where they could get a different and hopefully unbiased judge.
So yes, Trump was found guilty of defaming Ms. Carroll and ordered to pay about $5 million dollars. But this judgment will likely get overturned on appeal, provided the former president can get a decent judge in the NY appeals court.
Meanwhile, the judge in the criminal case brought by Prosecutor Bragg regarding the payments made to fixer Michael Cohen made an insane ruling, not just gagging Trump and his lawyers but ruling that Trump’s lawyers can not show any of the evidence to Trump without the express permission of the judge. Not only that but if the Trump legal team appeals this ruling, which serves as a massive speed bump in their attempts to prepare for trial, the judge’s ruling states that the prosecution does not have to turn over ANY evidence until the appeal is heard. Meaning the Trump team would not get any of the evidence against him but still have to prepare for trial while fighting this outrageous ruling. No wonder the former president’s lawyers are pushing to move this case out of the NY state court and into federal court.
Lorraine Yuriar is a wife, mother, and a lifelong conservative, currently stuck in a very blue state.
Nice job, LY!
Bull indeed - stupid politics....
They could convict a ham sandwich of a crime.