Friday’s jury verdict determined that President Donald Trump must pay $83.3 million to advice columnist E. Jean Carroll due to defamation she suffered when he denied she sexually assaulted him. Judge Robert Kaplan limited what could be presented during closing arguments; thus preventing Trump from criticizing Carroll directly from the stand.
Judge Kaplan Made Sure That Every Single Defense That President Trump Had Wasn’t Raised in the Case
As the trial moves into its second week, Alina Habba is doing her utmost to defend President Trump and has raised numerous objections in courtroom. Additionally, she has had some contentious exchanges with Judge Lewis Kaplan.
She successfully opposed an expert witness who had many clients within the Trump administration as an expert witness in how damages would be assessed in this case.
Habba’s arguments have not been convincing, prompting criticism from both courtroom gallery and colleagues of hers – former White House lawyer Ty Cobb specifically called Habba’s behavior “embarrassing.”
But she has not allowed that to stop her from pushing forward her case. She claims Kaplan ensured every defense he had was not raised during the case – an allegation which, if proven true, could earn her malpractice charges; but to establish them would require showing that favorable evidence was denied and it resulted in different results.
Appearance of Impropriety
Judge Lewis Kaplan had already informed Trump’s team that they could not deny their rape and defamation of E. Jean Carroll writer; however, Habba broke this rule when making her closing arguments.
At one point, she made statements suggesting that Carroll hadn’t suffered as a result of his 2019 denials, in order to discredit her testimony that she experienced lost job opportunities and received death threats due to these denials.
The judge made her decision a day after rejecting Trump’s request for dismissal of the case, leaving him angry over not receiving more coverage in media as to his arguments which were “frivolous and unnecessary.”
On Thursday, Kaplan made an unprecedented change to courtroom rules by permitting Habba to question Carol Martin as an adverse witness instead of hostile one – this allows her to ask leading questions that would usually be prohibited – which may have long-term legal ramifications according to experts and strengthen Trump supporters who think the judge and law clerk are biased against them.
Political Bias
Before closing arguments started Friday, his lawyer Michael Madaio was engaging in heated arguments with Judge William E. Zalkind over what could be shown to the jury. Specifically, Zalkind barred tweets which weren’t previously admitted into evidence as part of this case from being shown.
Kaplan’s decision to disallow such evidence has drawn accusations of bias from many, including Trump himself. On social media platforms over the last week, he has lashed out against Kaplan for her ruling against him in E Jean Carroll’s defamation trial.
In one post, Trump claimed the “Clinton-appointed judge” was biased and could not be trusted to render an impartial ruling in his case against Carroll. Additionally, he accused this “corrupt” judge of permitting “Black bitch” slurs against New York Attorney General Letitia James by Trump supporters. His statements came shortly after a jury awarded Carroll $83.8 million after she testified about sexual abuse she experienced decades earlier from him; her case had been brought by a former Elle magazine columnist accusing Trump of assaulting her during an encounter at Manhattan department store changing room by her accuser who accused Trump.
Intimidation
Judge Lewis Kaplan of E Jean Carroll defamation lawsuit is showing no mercy toward Donald Trump’s attorney Alina Habba, threatening action if she sees any inappropriate conduct within courtroom proceedings.
She’s already been making headlines by pressuring Carroll to delete a number of messages that contained threats against her on social media, while accusing Carroll of exploiting the attention generated from their accusations against Trump.
Kaplan has warned Carroll to refrain from discussing that issue on the witness stand and also prohibited her from arguing that Trump sexually assaulted Carroll; when she attempted this argument on Friday, he cut her off, telling jurors they should disregard it as they have already established Trump assaulted her and warned her she may face disciplinary action from her bar association.
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