This doesn’t come as much of a shock considering how badly Joe Tacopina and the rest of Donald Trump’s defense team are getting pummeled in the E. Jean Carroll trial. Nevertheless, it does reek of politicization, not to mention desperation. Tacopina filed a motion at dawn on Monday to get a mistrial declared in the Carroll v. Trump civil rape trial, alleging that Judge Lewis Kaplan is openly hostile to Trump and his lawyers. Reuters:
NEW YORK, May 1 (Reuters) – Donald Trump has requested a mistrial in a civil case where the writer E. Jean Carroll is accusing him of rape and defamation, saying the judge made several “unfair and prejudicial” rulings against him.
In an 18-page letter filed early Monday in Manhattan federal court, Trump’s lawyer Joe Tacopina accused U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan of being biased against the former U.S. president, including in the jury’s presence.
He said the effect of Kaplan’s rulings “manifests a deeper leaning towards one party over another,” including in comments where the judge “openly expresses favoritism.”
Lawyers for Carroll did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The trial is expected to resume on Monday, with Carroll facing a second day of cross-examination by Tacopina.
Requests for mistrials are often long shots, including when they are based on the judge’s own statements. Such requests also often form a basis for eventual appeals.
You see the handwriting on the wall here. Tacopina is trying to either get the case thrown out of court now, which is indeed a long shot, or he’s trying to set the stage for an appeal, which will probably happen.
Here’s more from ABC7 via Raw Story:
“Defense attorney Joe Tacopina said the judge has mischaracterized elements of the case and improperly shut down certain lines of questioning during cross examination. Tacopina said he should have been allowed to explore why Carroll did not pursue security camera footage from the store and why Carroll did not go to the police following the alleged rape.”
In his filing, he wrote, “Proof that Plaintiff never attempted to determine if any such footage of the parties existed constitutes circumstantial evidence that her accusation is false.”
“Tacopina also questioned Judge Lewis Kaplan’s admonishment of a social media post by Eric Trump that revealed LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman is funding Carroll’s case,” ABC7 is also reporting.
It’s not surprising. Tacopina is the kind of lawyer that’s going to try everything in the book, warranted or not, to protect a guilty client. He’s a mob lawyer. He’s not interested in the truth, he’s interested in what the other side can prove.
What is interesting to contemplate, however, is the fact that the appeal, if one is granted, may dog Trump throughout his entire presidential run. He might do better to just dispose of this matter now, early in the game, and hope for amnesia by Election Day.
Donald J. Trump…What an ugly, ugly, ugly man……..inside and out! He makes my skin crawl!!
I can’t say as how it surprises me. All the reports coming in on this trial indicate that Trump’s legal team is getting clobbered. This is a desperate move and it’s the only move they’ve got. Of course they’re going to take it. But I don’t think they’ll get the mistrial — and most likely the disposition of the case will be held up on appeal for some time to come. That’s all Tacopina is trying to accomplish.
I can see why this was filed. Now regardless of whether Diapers wins or loses, Diapers gets a win. If he wins the case, he gets to crow “See, I was innocent, what about everything else?” If he loses the case, he gets to crow “they were unfair to me, of course I lost”. His base is mind-numbingly stupid and will eat that shit up like it’s bacon-wrapped butter dipped in coating and deep fried.
This is a procedural gambit and also a way to look good on right-wing media which is all these people care about.
Of course Tacopena is a,Mob lawyer who is obnoxiously attacking Carroll like the thug he is. Exactly the kind of lawyer Trump.would love. Fat Donnie sees himself as the capo de tutti capi but he isn’t smart enough to.be the Godfather. He would never have made it past the leg breaker stage because he isn’t loyal.or intelligent enough to.rise through the ranks.
I was a rape crisis volunyeer. This is the kind of insulting. questioning we expected in the late1970s.and which cheap defense lawyers use if they have nothing else who work with.
When I took my paralegal classes, criminal.law was taught by a a retired JAG judge. He taught us the old saw:”When the facts help.your client,pound on the facts. If the facts,are against the client but the law favors jim,pound on the law. If neither helps the client, pound on the table.”
Joe the Schmo has neither facts nor law and the table is pretty wobbly, so.he is pounding on the victim. She wouldn’t have known about security cameras. She responded to.his insulting questions with dignity and calm, making him.look like the two-bit thug he is. I suspect the jury loathes him.
The jerk off should be referred to as “failed mob lawyer”, not defense attorney…
Fat @ss knows he will be found guilty. That’s why he fled the country.
Well Pete…everybody knows a human being will cast about in a time of stress…Everett,(George clooney), in O Brother Where Art Thou.
This move is also typical Trump behavior. When things do not go his way, it’s always the other person’s fault. He is never wrong, everyone else is.
So, this trial is being argued in front of a jury, no? What real difference does it make if the judge is “biased” against Trump or not? If the judge were being asked to adjudicate the case, then, sure, it would be reasonable to argue against bias but if a jury is deciding the case, then any claim of bias on the judge’s part is just noise.
Then again, Trump’s lawyer should know that certain lines of questioning are off-limits and rehashing arguments repeatedly will never fly, no matter how absolutely impartial or utterly biased the judge is.
Actually a judge can make a great deal of difference in how a trial turns out. How they rule on pre-trial motions regarding points of law on charges, what evidence can or cannot be admitted and so on. Then, at trial how a judge say rules on objections and even demeanor towards attorney (for either side) can slant things. And then there are the jury instructions if things reach the point where a jury actually retires to deliberate on a verdict. I’ll give you a painful example you might be familiar with. Did you watch much of wannabe “tough guy” Kyle Rattf##kers trial? Granted, the prosecutor didn’t do as solid a job as he could have, perhaps because he assumed he had a slam-dunk case or perhaps he wasn’t all that great an attorney. But there is NO doubt the judge in the case wanted an acquittal. And that’s what happened. On the flip side judges have been known to be so biased against defendants in both criminal and civil trials that verdicts have been overturned on appeal. Judges can in fact make a difference and sometimes a huge one.
Of course Tacopena is a,Mob lawyer who is obnoxiously attacking Carroll like the thug he is. Exactly the kind of lawyer Trump.would love. Fat Donnie sees himself as the capo de tutti capi but he isn’t smart enough to.be the Godfather. He would never have made it past the leg breaker stage because he isn’t loyal.or intelligent enough to.rise through the ranks.
I was a rape crisis volunyeer. This is the kind of insulting. questioning we expected in the late1970s.and which cheap defense lawyers use if they have nothing else who work with.
When I took my paralegal classes, criminal.law was taught by a a retired JAG judge. He taught us the old saw:”When the facts help.your client,pound on the facts. If the facts,are against the client but the law favors jim,pound on the law. If neither helps the client, pound on the table.”
Joe the Schmo has neither facts nor law and the table is pretty wobbly, so.he is pounding on the victim. She wouldn’t have known about security cameras. She responded to.his insulting questions with dignity and calm, making him.look like the two-bit thug he is. I suspect the jury loathes him.