northland10 wrote: ↑Tue Dec 05, 2023 1:51 pm
Mistrial? I'm not sure that's what he's after since it is tougher to have one without a jury.
Yeah: Mistrials are a remedy for other people's behaviors, not a reward for your own bad behavior. And a judge is much less likely to grand a mistrial when there's no jury.
The closest is the
fictional "And Justice for All" ending (hidden in case you haven't yet seen a 44-year-old movie):
► Show Spoiler
The defendant's lawyer threw the case to get the defendant a mistrial. Because a party has rights independent of what a lawyer might do.
However, getting the judge to lose his cool multiple times could provide the potential for a judicial bias argument on appeal.
Potential? Sure: any non-frivolous argument may be made on appeal (without fear of sanctions). But I have no doubt the plaintiff and the judge, if such an incident were to occur, would go to every effort to make a record to explain what had happened. So the appellate court could defer to the trial court's discretion and factual findings.
Mouthy defendants, even mouthy criminal defendants, have been removed from courtrooms due to bad behavior. So I expect such a stunt would only generate headlines and attorneys' bills, but not affect the trial or its verdict, even on appeal.
* * *
MSNBC wrote:Moreover, the court attorney noted the underlying appeal of the gag order could not be expedited because Team Trump already had agreed its appeal would be “returnable,” or ready for court review, on that same day: Dec. 11.
I hear everybody saying NYS appellate law is arcane. But I'm still surprised there isn't a method to ask for an immediate ruling. Even if it means dismissing the first appeal and starting from scratch.