Judge slams Donald Trump’s mistrial request as ‘nonsensical’ and ‘futile’ in E Jean Carroll defamation case

A federal judge dismissed Donald Trump's bid for mistrial in E. Jean Carroll's defamation case. $83.3m verdict stands. Trump vows appeal.

On Thursday, a federal judge has dismissed former president Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the verdict in the defamation lawsuit filed by the writer E Jean Carroll, who accused him of sexually assaulting her.

The federal judge who presided over the jury trial that resulted in an $83 million award to writer E. Jean Carroll for her defamation claims against Trump said Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024, that his rejection of his lawyer's unusual midtrial mistrial request was not a close call. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File) (AP)

The judge said that Trump’s objections to the verdict had no “merit” and that his request for a mistrial was “nonsensical” and “futile”.

In a written order issued on Wednesday, Judge Lewis Kaplan rejected Trump’s motion for a mistrial, which his lawyers had made during the cross-examination of Carroll.

The judge had already denied the motion at the time, telling the jury to ignore the counsel’s comments. He repeated his decision and strongly condemned Trump’s lawyer’s actions in the order this week.

'Absolutely ridiculous,' Trump on Truth Social

Trump was ordered to pay an additional $83.3m to Carroll last month, after Kaplan ruled that he had defamed her in 2019. A jury had earlier found that Trump had sexually abused her, and awarded her $5m.

Trump denounced the judge’s decision on Truth Social, calling it “absolutely ridiculous” and announcing that he would appeal.

The former president’s lawyer Alina Habba, sought a mistrial after Carroll testified that she had deleted some of the death threats she had received to cope with her anxiety and “take control of the situation”. Habba claimed that Carroll had “destroyed evidence” and made the unusual mistrial request in front of the jury.

What the judge have to convey?

Kaplan wrote that he had rejected the motion “right away” during that hearing “partly because it was late”, as the defendant had known about the alleged deletion of messages for almost a year before the trial. The judge also pointed out that a mistrial is only granted for a procedural error or serious misconduct, and that a mistrial would not have fixed any problem with improper disposal of electronic communications “if any there was”.

Kaplan wrote that declaring a mistrial would have been “useless”, as a new trial would have faced the same issues. He said that Habba’s later written motion for a mistrial was “at least doubly frivolous” and “completely groundless”. “Granting it now would be even more senseless … [and] a pointless exercise,” Kaplan continued.

Kaplan really hates Trump

The judge also said that making the request in front of the jury had been “unfairly harmful to Ms Carroll”.

The judge further said he would not give any relief to Trump because the cross-examination had been adequate and “he would not be entitled to anything more than what already happened during trial”.

After the damages ruling, Trump wrote, “I fully disagree with both verdicts, and will be appealing this whole Biden Directed Witch Hunt focused on me and the Republican Party. Our Legal System is out of control, and being used as a Political Weapon. They have taken away all First Amendment Rights. THIS IS NOT AMERICA!”

Carroll had previously said that the multimillion-dollar award proved “we don’t need to be scared” of the former president, adding, “It was a shocking discovery for me – he’s nothing.”

The former Elle magazine columnist likened him to “a walrus snorting” and “a rhino flopping his hands” in an interview, adding, “He can be taken down.”