Judge Denies Trump's Motion For Mistrial In E. Jean Carroll Lawsuit

A federal judge in New York denied a motion by Donald Trump’s lawyers to declare a mistrial in the civil battery and defamation lawsuit filed against the former president by advice columnist E. Jean Carroll.

The denial was made on Monday shortly after Trump’s attorney, Joe Tacopina, submitted an 18-page letter accusing U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan of making “pervasive unfair and prejudicial rulings.”

Kaplan did not make any comment explaining his decision before allowing testimony to resume that morning, the New York Post reported.

Tacopina had requested that either a mistrial be declared or that the court “correct the record” for every instance that evidence was “mischaracterized” to the New York jury. He also requested greater opportunity to cross-examine Carroll and her witnesses.

“Here, despite the fact trial testimony has been underway for only two days, the proceedings are already replete with numerous examples of Defendant’s unfair treatment by the Court, most of which has been witnessed by the Jury,” the letter read.

In his letter, Tacopina accused Kaplan of having “bolstered” Carroll’s testimony and argued that some of the criticized cross-examination methods used by Trump’s team, which the judge called “argumentative,” are “well-established and accepted.”

Tacopina has been admonished by the judge several times during his questioning, as The New York Times previously reported.

Carroll sued Trump, accusing him of raping her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the mid-1990s and then defaming her when she went public with her claim. Trump has denied wrongdoing and accused her of making it up to boost sales of her book.