Judge denies Trump’s motion for mistrial in battery case
(CNN) A federal decide overseeing a civil battery and defamation trial involving Donald Trump has denied the previous president’s motion for a mistrial.
Cross-examination of E. Jean Carroll, the columnist who sued Trump, resumed Monday morning.
Trump had argued that Judge Lewis Kaplan had made “pervasive unfair and prejudicial rulings” towards him. In a letter filed in a single day Monday, Trump legal professional Joe Tacopina mentioned alternatively he would ask Kaplan to “correct the record for each and every instance in which the Court has mischaracterized the facts of this case to the jury” or present him better leeway in cross inspecting Carroll.
“Here, despite the fact trial testimony has been underway for only two days, the proceedings are already replete with numerous examples of Defendant’s unfair treatment by the Court, most of which has been witnessed by the Jury,” the letter mentioned.
Carroll sued Trump, alleging he raped her in the Bergdorf Goodman division retailer in the mid-1990s after which defamed her when he denied her declare, mentioned she wasn’t his sort and instructed she made up the story to spice up gross sales of her guide. Trump has denied any wrongdoing.
Among the problems raised by Tacopina are the decide’s ruling proscribing Tacopina from asking Carroll further questions on any efforts Carroll made to attempt to acquire safety digicam footage from the division retailer, “expressing a corroborative view” that there was nobody on the sixth flooring of the division retailer on the time of the alleged assault, and calling sure traces of the protection legal professional’s questioning “argumentative” in entrance of the jury.
It can be uncommon for the decide to declare a mistrial based mostly on his personal statements throughout a trial.
Cross examination of Carroll continues
During cross-examination on Monday, Tacopina sought to counsel that Carroll was not scarred by the alleged assault.
Carroll testified that she continued to buy at Bergdorf Goodman, and Trump’s lawyer confirmed receipts indicating that Carroll spent greater than $13,000 on the division retailer throughout 23 procuring journeys between 2001 and 2018.
“I made that clear that Bergdorf’s is not a place that I’m afraid to enter,” Carroll testified.
She additionally agreed that she was a “fan” of the “The Apprentice” starring Trump and loved watching the competitors between aspiring businesspeople.
Tacopina confirmed her a publish on her Facebook web page from August 6, 2012, in which Carroll wrote: “Would you have sex with Donald Trump for $17,000 (even if you could a) give the money to charity b) close your eyes? and he’s not allowed to speak?)”
“You joked around about having sex with Donald Trump for money in this Facebook post, correct?” Tacopina requested Carroll.
She responded that sure, she did.
Trump’s legal professional additionally reviewed a sequence of columns Carroll has written recommending that her readers report sexual abuse and different harassment to the police.
Carroll acknowledged the recommendation she’d given readers to report allegations together with rape to the police and defined why she did not name the police for herself.
“I would never call the police for something I was ashamed of,” Carroll mentioned. “I was ashamed of what happen. I thought it was my fault, I would never, never, never go to the police ever.”
Tacopina additionally learn excerpts from Carroll’s guide and requested her why she did not sue former CBS govt Les Moonves after he denied her allegations that he sexually assaulted her in an elevator.
“He didn’t call me names,” Carroll mentioned. “He didn’t grind my face through the mud like Donald Trump did.”
This story has been up to date with further developments.