A Trump Civil Trial Is About to Start. It's a Nightmare for Him.

[marmar]

(Slate) The first of what will likely be multiple courtroom battles for Donald Trump is about to start, after U.S. District Court Senior Judge Lewis Kaplan denied Trump’s motion to adjourn the scheduled April 25 trial of the civil assault charges filed against him by E. Jean Carroll. Noting that it was the former president himself who largely “invited or provoked” the publicity that he claimed created a need for delay, Judge Kaplan ordered the trial to proceed as scheduled.

Trump now faces the immediate prospect of a face-to-face courtroom battle with a woman he described as a “nut job” who “enjoyed” being sexually assaulted. Carroll had filed separate defamation and assault lawsuits against him based on the claim that he raped her in her dressing room at the Fifth Avenue department store Bergdorf Goodman in the mid-1990s. With some of the libel allegations still under appellate review, Carroll’s assault complaint is now set for trial. The claim was allowed to be filed so many years after the alleged assault because of a relatively new law that allows sexual assault victims to file charges after the applicable statute of limitations had otherwise expired.

The evidence against the former president in the public record seems strong. First, based upon Carroll’s public interviews, she appears to be an effective advocate who should be a sympathetic witness on her own behalf. In addition, there are a number of witnesses whom Carroll had contemporaneously told about the incident who will corroborate her story. There is also unidentified male DNA on the dress she was wearing when the incident occurred. Finally, Judge Kaplan has allowed into evidence certain of Trump’s prior assaultive conduct toward women, including the infamous Access Hollywood tape.

To defend against these charges, Trump has selected Joseph Tacopina as his lead lawyer. Tacopina is a rough-and-tumble brawler not known for his courtroom finesse or encyclopedic legal acumen. Indeed, his recent appearances in the media have already made him the subject of ridicule on late-night comedy shows. Not well-regarded by many of our mutual colleagues in the New York criminal defense bar, he was described to me by one highly regarded courtroom veteran as “Bruce Cutler with hair,” an unflattering reference to John Gotti’s much-maligned courtroom bulldog. .........(more)

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/04/trump-e-jean-carroll-suit-sexual-assault-kaplan.html

[republianmushroom]

1. No more delays.

26 months and counting

[brooklynite]

2. Once again, this trial will not be televised (Federal trials never are)

[70sEraVet]

3. So, did they collect dna from 'Glumph' when they arraigned him, like they do with normal people?

Thats something that i never read about. If his dna is in the database, and Carroll really did save the dress .....

[ExWhoDoesntCare]

4. Hee hee

Noting that it was the former president himself who largely “invited or provoked” the publicity that he claimed created a need for delay, Judge Kaplan ordered the trial to proceed as scheduled.

That's kind of a long way to say, "You bought the ticket, wanker. Now take the ride."

Or, as the kids say these days, FAFO.