Deadline: Legal Blog-The Trump civil fraud case is a mess. Another round of appeal could clean it up.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

New York Attorney General Letitia James has already signaled her intention to seek further review at the state’s highest court.

The Trump civil fraud case is a mess. Another round of appeal could clean it up.

New York Attorney General Letitia James has already signaled her intention to seek further review at the state’s highest court.
www.msnbc.com/deadline-whi...

— Phyllis B Kantor (@wiselady11.bsky.social) 2025-08-22T15:54:35.908Z

https://www.msnbc.com/deadline-white-house/deadline-legal-blog/trump-civil-fraud-case-letitia-james-appeal-new-york-rcna226377

But that was just the beginning. The oddity grew upon seeing, toward the start of the first of three separate decisions from the five-justice panel, that “none of the three decisions garners a majority.”.....

That first opinion, by Justice Peter Moulton joined by Justice Dianne Renwick, said that those two justices thought New York’s attorney general acted lawfully in bringing the fraud case. But they said that ordering the defendants to “pay nearly half a billion dollars” to New York amounts to an “excessive” and unconstitutional fine.

The second opinion, by Justice John Higgitt joined by Justice Llinét Rosado, agreed that James had the authority to bring the suit but said they thought a new trial was warranted.

The third opinion, by Justice David Friedman, argued for dismissing the case outright in Trump’s favor.

So, we have three opinions saying different things. How did the panel attempt to come to a resolution?....

Though they thought a new trial was needed, their opinion said that “after much consideration, with great reluctance and with acknowledgement of the incongruity of the act,” they agreed to join the bottom line of Moulton and Renwick’s opinion that tosses out the massive financial penalty as well as sanctions on Trump defense lawyers, while otherwise upholding the case in James’ favor.

Citing the “truly extraordinary circumstances here, where none of the writings enjoys the support of a majority,” they said the parties “must have a decision on this matter and, concomitantly, the option of further review of this matter by the Court of Appeals.”....

James, who has denied any wrongdoing herself, said in a statement Thursday that the appeals court “affirmed the well-supported finding of the trial court: Donald Trump, his company, and two of his children are liable for fraud.” She said the court “upheld the injunctive relief we won, limiting Donald Trump and the Trump Organization officers’ ability to do business in New York. It should not be lost to history: yet another court has ruled that the president violated the law, and that our case has merit.” She concluded: “We will seek appeal to the Court of Appeals and continue to protect the rights and interests of New Yorkers.”

I followed the trial of this case and I listened to the oral arguments in this case. Prior to the oral arguments, the court had on its own motion reduced the bond that trump was required to post from $500 million or so to $175 million. I personally thought that the judge used the wrong measure of damages in his judgment and was expecting to see a remittitur or reduction of damages.

The Court of Appeals (the highest court in NY) is going to have fun in this case. The fact that court found that trump violated the law and upheld the injunctions is meaningful. trump and his kids are banned from being an officer in a New York corporation.

[Jarqui]

1. I also followed the trial but

I did not dig into the damages dollars

I recently posted this
https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=20570951
including:

The trial - aside from Trump lawyer maneuvers - was all about the damages because the evidence against Trump was so overwhelming and clear cut - it could not be defended => the summary judgement.

"Trump employed 16 different fraudulent deceptive strategies on 23 assets committing about 500 fraudulent acts which she proved in a court of law. " (my previous comment)

Due to statute of limitations, they only got Trump for about a decade of fraud. All indications are that he had been doing this for a few decades. So this disputed amount being tossed is like a technicality to me. Even if they successfully bicker to reduce the amount - that final amount is but a fraction of the fraud reality. This is a key way Trump existed financially. He thrived on fraud, not paying his bills and evading taxes. But the media isn't knocking itself to remind people of those facts established in a court of law and basically could not be refuted by Trump's army of lawyers.

If the AG and people of New York want to deter this sort of behavior (in part, the intent of the law), the fines/damages should be very stiff. The risk of a slap on the wrist if one gets caught makes it financially worthwhile for business leaders like Trump to continue the fraudulent practice - which was part of the rationale for Trump to carry on as he did for decades.

Letitia James proved Trump is a crook. From what I have gathered so far (I have not read the decision yet), the appeals court did not say otherwise.