Possible Trump testimony in defamation trial postponed
NEW YORK — With former President Donald Trump soon to take the witness stand, a juror’s illness forced a last-minute delay Monday of a defamation trial over his comments about E. Jean Carroll, the writer who claims he sexually assaulted her in the 1990s.
It’s not yet clear when the trial will resume. The court is awaiting COVID-19 tests on all the jurors; one of Trump’s lawyers also hasn’t been feeling well but tested negative, and his team wants to postpone the Republican presidential front-runner’s next appearance until after Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary.
There was no indication that Trump himself wasn’t feeling well, and he didn’t wear a mask in court as he watched Monday’s brief proceeding. U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan announced that one of nine jurors was told to go home and take a coronavirus test after he reported feeling hot and nauseous.
Trump attorney Alina Habba also reported that at least one of her parents has COVID-19 and that she ran a fever in the last two days after having dinner with them several days ago. She said that her law partner, Michael Madaio, also attended the dinner, although both tested negative for the virus Monday. Habba then said she didn’t see a problem “with a short delay for a day” so everyone can get tested. Neither attorney wore a mask in court.
Habba asked whether Trump’s testimony could be delayed until Wednesday because of the New Hampshire primary, while Carroll’s
lawyer pressed for the trial to resume Tuesday, if possible. The judge did not immediately rule on Habba’s request but told her: “Circumstances may result in you getting what you ask for, and maybe not.”
Whenever it may happen, Trump’s testimony stands to allow him — within limits that he might well test — to explain to a jury why he not only denied Carroll’s claims but branded her a liar who faked a sexual attack to sell a memoir.
Because a different jury found last year that Trump sexually abused Carroll, Kaplan has ruled that if the former president takes the stand now, he won’t be allowed to say she concocted her allegation or that she was motivated by financial or political considerations.
Last week, the voluble ex-president and current Republican front-runner sat at the defense table while Carroll testified, complaining to his lawyers about a “witch hunt” and a “con job” loudly enough that the judge threatened to throw Trump out of the courtroom if he kept it up. Trump piped down and stayed in court, then held a news conference where he deplored
the “nasty judge.”
“It’s a disgrace, frankly, what’s happening,” Trump told reporters, repeating his claim that Carroll’s allegation was “a made-up, fabricated story.”
Besides tangling with Kaplan, Trump bucked the New York state judge in his recent civil business fraud trial involving claims that he inflated his wealth. Trump, who denies any wrongdoing, delivered a brief closing argument of sorts without committing to rules for summations and assailed the judge from the witness stand. He also was fined a total of $15,000 for what the judge deemed violations of a gag order concerning comments about court staffers. Trump’s attorneys are appealing the order.
In Carroll’s case, her lawyers have implored the judge to make Trump swear, before any testimony, that he understands and accepts the court’s restrictions on what he can say.
“There are any number of reasons why Mr. Trump might perceive a personal or political benefit from intentionally turning this trial into a circus,” attorney Roberta Kaplan wrote in a letter to the judge, who is no relation.