Roberta Kaplan, who represents writer E. Jean Carroll in ongoing litigation she has against former President Donald Trump that will soon reach trial, wrote to federal Judge Lewis Kaplan this week to criticize a missive from Trump’s corner seeking what would apparently be instruction to the jury on Donald’s potential absence from the trial. It seems accompanying the basic notification Trump sought would be an explanation of the former president providing some kind of help to the city of New York by avoiding potential problems in logistics, a concept Kaplan (Carroll’s lawyer) blasted.
She’d evidently hope for a rejection of any such instruction to the jury in the looming civil proceedings. “However, the notion that Mr. Trump would not appear as some sort of favor to the City of New York—and that the jury should be instructed as much—“taxes the credulity of the credulous,”” the writer’s lawyer wrote. “This Court and the City it calls home are fully equipped to handle any logistical burdens that may result from Mr. Trump’s appearance at a weeklong trial. Indeed, the Court has already made clear that it takes those matters seriously. If Mr. Trump decides not to appear at his own trial for sexual assault and defamation, the jury may draw whatever inferences it chooses—and Mr. Trump has no right to a judicial endorsement of his (flimsy) excuse.”
Trump recently appeared in New York City for a deposition in the lawsuit he, his family business, and adult children of his including Don Jr. are facing from New York state Attorney General Letitia James over possible fraud at the Trump Organization, and it didn’t seem there were any particularly difficult logistical issues in that scenario. Kaplan also noted Trump’s recent attendance at a pro wrestling event. In short, the idea the former president should receive special treatment via what’s said to the jury doesn’t seem solid.
“Mr. Trump’s position is especially difficult to credit in light of his own recent activity. Over the past few weeks, Mr. Trump attended the Ultimate Fighting Championship 287 event, spoke at the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting, and appeared for a deposition in the New York Attorney General’s civil case against Mr. Trump, his adult children, and the Trump Organization,” Carroll’s lawyer added to the judge. “On Monday, he announced that he has scheduled a New Hampshire campaign event for next Thursday, April 27—in other words, in the middle of the trial in this case. If Mr. Trump can find a way to attend wrestling championships, political conventions, civil depositions, and campaign functions, then surely he could surmount the logistics of attending his own federal trial.”
NEW: Carroll lawyer Robbie Kaplan caustically responds to Trump's request that the court tell jurors he is excused from trial because of the burden on the court & NYC. If he's got time for UFC matches & NRA conventions, she says, he can show up for a trial about rape. pic.twitter.com/X9QxQNARFu
— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) April 19, 2023
