Judge Denies Trump's Mistrial Motion in Rape Case

Facts

• On Monday, Manhattan federal Judge Lewis Kaplan denied a motion submitted by former Pres. Donald Trump's attorney Joe Tacopina to declare a mistrial in columnist E. Jean Carroll's civil rape case against his client.¹
• Tacopina had requested a mistrial earlier in the day, accusing Kaplan of making "pervasive unfair and prejudicial rulings" against Trump by skewing evidence in Carroll's favor.²
• Alternatively, he asked the judge to rectify instances on the record in which the Court allegedly mischaracterized the facts to the Jury, and to allow Trump's legal team greater scope to cross-examine Carroll and her witnesses.³
• On her third day on the stand, Carroll admitted she had been a fan of the Trump-hosted "The Apprentice" reality show, made a joke in a historic Facebook post asking people if they would have sex with Trump for $17K, and had continued to shop at the Manhattan store in the decades after the assault.⁴
• The case against Trump stems from allegations that he sexually assaulted Carroll in a Bergdorf Goodman store dressing room in the mid-1990s. Last November, she sued him under a new state law giving sexual abuse victims a year to file civil lawsuits against their alleged attackers that would otherwise have fallen outside the statute of limitations.⁵
• Trump, who hasn't attended the trial, denies all wrongdoing and claims he was never at the store with the former Elle magazine advice columnist, or even knew her beyond a brief meeting in 1987 when him and his then-wife Ivana greeted Carroll and her then-husband John at a party.⁶

Sources: ¹New York Post, ²CNBC, ³CBS, ⁴NBC, ⁵New York Times, and ⁶The Hill.

Narratives

• Democratic narrative, as provided by The New Republic. Trump's lawyers have been trying to undermine Carroll's credibility before the jury but to no avail. Sadly, even if the civil jury concludes that she is truthfully accusing the former president of rape, it's very likely that die-hard Trumpists will argue the case was long rigged against him. Lost in their own narrative and echo chamber, Republicans may not even care whether they have a rapist as their presidential candidate.
• Republican narrative, as provided by Daily Caller. While it's debatable whether Trump should be considered a role model, this lawsuit is undeniably politically motivated. It has only reached a courtroom because New York changed its statute of limitations last year. The main problem concerning this accusation isn't that Carroll failed to speak out at the time — or even when Trump first ran for president — but rather that her account of the incident is inconsistent and unsubstantiated.

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