Fogbow

Tiredretiredlawyer wrote: ↑Wed May 01, 2024 1:22 pm Same here, chancery. It's a tricky topic. I had a case involving contempt in a civil case in which the judge put my client and the opposing client both in jail. I learned that day about arrogant, abusive judges who say things they totally forget. He told my client in fervent tones to come to court any time her ex harassed her when he issued a permanent domestic relations order of protection then threw her in jail!

bob wrote: ↑Thu May 02, 2024 12:06 pm

Dr. Ken wrote: ↑Thu May 02, 2024 12:30 pm
waiting for trump to blow a gasket

bob wrote: ↑Thu May 02, 2024 12:06 pm

TRUMP is sitting passively at his lawyer Todd Blanche as he reads out Michael Cohen's tweets attacking him on Twitter, incl Cohen calling him "Von Schitzenpants" and a "petulant defendant" and that he won't donate to Trump's jail commissary

Lisa Rubin
@lawofruby
This is not only a waste of the jury’s time, but it is a silly strategy for those who keep insisting the DA is keeping Trump from the campaign trail.

Renato Mariotti
@renato_mariotti
It’s not a silly strategy. It is a way for the defense to force the prosecution to clutter their case with boring, unimportant testimony.

The boring testimony can make it harder for the jury to focus on what’s important.

Maybenaut wrote: ↑Thu May 02, 2024 1:02 pm MN Skeptic, time to update the header in the general Trump thread…

MN-Skeptic wrote: ↑Thu May 02, 2024 1:17 pm But I probably should increase the $83M fines amount.

chancery wrote: ↑Fri Feb 16, 2024 4:40 pm
Sorry to be that guy, but these are civil recoveries, not fines, which are criminal penalties.

Actually not sorry.

The Eighth Amendment protects against excessive civil fines, including forfeitures. Alexander v. United States, 509 U.S. 544, 113 S.Ct. 2766, 125 L.Ed.2d 441 (1993); Austin v. United States, 509 U.S. 602, 113 S.Ct. 2801, 125 L.Ed.2d 488 (1993).

Trump's lawyer Susan Necheles then asked Judge Merchan if he would look at the big stack of news articles that Trump waves around the courthouse from people like Tom Fitton, Jonathan Turley, Alan Dershowitz and others who say that the case should be thrown out. Trump wanted Merchan to read them to determine whether it would violate the gag order if he posted them online. Merchan said he was not going to issue preemptive rulings or read the articles. (As we previously reported, Trump pays a staffer $105,000 to follow him around with a wireless printer to scour the internet to find positive articles for him to read).

Former President Donald Trump falsely claimed Thursday that he is not allowed to testify in his own defense at a criminal trial in Manhattan over his alleged falsification of business records.

After leaving the courtroom for the day, Trump told reporters, “I’m not allowed to testify. I’m under a gag order. I guess, right?” He added, “I’m not allowed to testify, because this judge, who’s totally conflicted, has me under an unconstitutional gag order.” He continued by complaining that he’s “not allowed to talk” even when others attack him, then said again, “So I’m not allowed to testify because of an unconstitutional gag order.”

Facts First: Trump’s claim is false. He is allowed to testify at the trial; the decision is entirely up to him. Judge Juan Merchan’s gag order, which narrowly restricts his out-of-court speech, does not in any way stop him from testifying. The gag order also does not broadly prevent Trump from talking; he is permitted to speak to the media, speak at campaign events, attack President Joe Biden and other political opponents, and even attack Merchan and the Manhattan district attorney behind the case.