Judge rejects Trump’s request for postponement, but allows 14 days
In 1996, columnist Carol was in fact “raped”… Insult charges too
American media outlets, including the Associated Press, reported on the 14th (local time) that former President Donald Trump received a one-week delay from a New York federal court judge on charges of sexual harassment, rape and insults to victims he committed in the 1990s. .
New York Federal District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan issued a one-page order on this day, allowing former President Trump to postpone his appearance to January 22nd. The trial was scheduled to begin on the 16th and end on the 18th, but an exception was made for the testimony of Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, the Associated Press reported.
Judge Kaplan had previously denied Trump’s request to postpone his trial appearance for a week.
Trump’s request to postpone his mother-in-law’s funeral was rejected on the grounds that it would cause great inconvenience and damage to the jurors, lawyers, court officials, and security personnel who had already been notified of the trial date seven months in advance. It was done.
The judge also said that he refused because he learned that Trump had planned a campaign rally in Portsmouth, New Hampshire on the 17th, even after he had requested a postponement of the trial. Accordingly, Trump’s lawyers notified the judge on the 12th that they would appear at the trial.
Jurors in this trial will hear statements from the first trial to seek the $10 million in damages requested by the plaintiff, columnist Gene Carroll, as well as millions more in punitive damages.
Carroll, now 80, was sentenced at a civil trial in May to receive $5 million in compensation for sexual assault and defamation. She stated that Trump sexually harassed her in the dressing room of a luxury department store in downtown Manhattan in the spring of 1996, and that what had been a pleasant chance meeting turned into a nightmare from then on.
Trump has continued to claim that he does not know Carroll at all and that the story was made up to promote her first published memoir and caused great political damage to him.
At the time, the jury dismissed Carroll’s claim of sexual assault as not meeting the definition of sexual assault under New York state law, but acknowledged that Trump sexually attacked her at the department store and that Carroll’s reputation was tarnished by his words in October 2022.
This month’s trial is a long-delayed appellate trial that primarily examines whether Trump defamed victims in statements he made about Carroll in 2019 and after the jury’s verdict in May of last year.
Trump’s lawyer, Alina Harbaugh, insisted that Trump appear in court and testify as a witness, assuming that despite some rulings already made, Trump still has a lot to say in his defense.
He argued that under New York State law, in a defamation trial, Trump should be able to fully defend himself against the victim’s statements that are consistent with hatred, malice, and resentment, and speak to the media on his behalf.
In addition, while Carroll continues to promote himself through press conferences and free statements, Trump also requested an opportunity to reveal the true meaning of his remarks to the media.
Judge Kaplan is not related to the judge who made the previous ruling. He said he knew that Trump, as he often did, ignored the court’s ruling and made excuses through opposing remarks to the public.
Therefore, the judge announced that he had decided to give Trump the opportunity to make a statement in court, fearing that Trump might claim that Carroll had made up stories during the election campaign and that he was innocent, and that he also allowed a postponement of the statement requested by Trump.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.