Throughout Tacopina's cross-examination of Carroll, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan repeatedly urged him to “move it along, appearing to grow impatient with repeated questions about the fact that Carroll never reported her alleged assault to authorities.
In this courtroom sketch, Joe Tacopina, lawyer for former President Donald Trump, stands in front of U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan and former Elle magazine advice columnist E. Jean Carroll during jury selection in a trial for which Carroll has accused the former president of raping her in a New York City department store dressing room in the mid-1990s, and of defamation.
Trump has repeatedly claimed he never met Carroll , and crassly asserted that she was “not my type.” In court, his lawyers have sought to paint Carroll as inconsistent and unreliable, suggesting her decisions to publicly accuse, and then sue, the former president were motivated by a desire to sell books and “settle a political score.”
The trial is expected to last at least another week and the defense will continue its cross-examination of Carroll on Monday morning. Trump is not legally obligated to attend the trial, but his attorneys have left open the possibility that he may do so. In the meantime, he has already weighed in from the sidelines — prompting one of several rebukes that his attorneys, and in particular lead lawyer Joe Tacopina, have already received from the judge.
Kaplan called the post “entirely inappropriate,” and noted that Trump had previously refused requests from Carroll’s lawyers to produce a DNA sample that could be compared against DNA found on the dress. “We’re getting into an area where, conceivably, your client may or may not be tampering with a new source of potential liability,” Kaplan said, adding, “And I think you know what I mean.”By the time court resumed after lunch Wednesday, there was another social media post to discuss, this time from Trump's son Eric.
Kaplan, however, reminded Tacopina that “I said something this morning about your client perhaps now sailing into harm’s way, conceivable with his son, if what I just heard is true.”
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Donald Trump trial: Judge scolds Trump for 'inappropriate' post on Carroll's suit donorFormer President Donald Trump's attorney was scolded Wednesday by the judge presiding over E. Jean Carroll's defamation trial after Trump posted to Truth Social that his rape accuser 'tried to hide' a wealthy political donor funding her lawsuit.
Read more »
Writer E. Jean Carroll spars with Trump lawyer from witness stand: 'I was raped'E. Jean Carroll, who alleges in a lawsuit that former President Trump raped her in the 1990s, faced questions by Trump's lawyer during cross-examination over her allegations.
Read more »
Writer E. Jean Carroll spars with Trump lawyer from witness stand: 'I was raped'“He raped me, whether I screamed or not,” she said, sobbing on the stand while also speaking loudly. 'If I was trying to make a lie I would say I was screaming my head off but I did not scream. I did not scream.'
Read more »
Judge, defense attorney spar over Trump's comments in E. Jean Carroll battery, defamation caseTestimony begins Wednesday in the civil defamation and battery trial of former President Trump, who is accused of raping writer E. Jean Carroll in the 1990s.
Read more »
Judge blasts Trump’s ‘entirely inappropriate’ Truth Social post on E. Jean Carroll rape lawsuitA Manhattan judge blasted Donald Trump’s “entirely inappropriate” Truth Social posts on second day of trial — as witness testimony began Wednesday.
Read more »