Ex-President Trump does not appear in court and has the US journalist Jean Carroll attacked by his lawyer. He risks losing the case.
New York – Ex-US President Donald Trump appears to be defeated in Civil suit against US journalist and author E. Jean Carroll to take into account. The trial involving the allegation of rape has been running since Monday (April 24). The US media are critical of Trump’s defense strategy and his lawyer’s appearance in court. According to legal experts, Trump appears to be preparing for defeat.
Rape charges: Trump’s lawyer attacks Carroll
The US journalist Carroll accuses Trump of raping her in the mid-1990s in the New York luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman. In court, she described the incident at the time. According to local observers, she was violently attacked and cross-examined by Trump’s attorney Joe Tacopina. The US media has criticized the behavior of Trump’s defense: “I would think that a lawyer in New York City would not yell at a woman who alleges that his client raped her,” emphasized Joe Scarborough, host of a political news show in the US broadcaster MSNBC. When dealing with potential victims of sexual violence, a cautious approach is mandatory, despite all the interests of the defense attorney.
According to US legal analyst Danny Cevallos, Trump is apparently less concerned about the outcome of the trial than that a statement from him in court could have negative consequences for him and his political ambitions. “My theory is that Trump is basically giving up on this battle because he knows he’s already given an affidavit,” Cevallos told US news channel MSNBC.
The Trump team probably thinks it’s more strategically prudent to video-play excerpts of Trump’s testimony to the jury. In doing so, they could select the most advantageous for the defendant and Trump would not have to answer the questions of the plaintiff’s lawyer. In a civil trial, he is not obliged to appear on the spot and testify.
Rape allegations: Trump risks conviction
According to US journalists and legal experts, his non-appearance and the aggressive behavior of his lawyer would put him at risk of losing the civil case. “He probably thinks he’s losing a battle, but in his mind he’s winning a political war,” Cevallos said.
donald trump probably also wants to avoid being confronted with his own actions – and words – in court. A federal judge had ruled that the so-called “Access Hollywood Video” could be included in Carroll’s trial. In the 2005 footage, Trump made statements describing sexually abusive acts against women, including that he could touch women without their consent. The video was from just before the US presidential election Washington Post been published. (kasa)
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