So one of trump’s Trials ends
“An Ominous Warning to the E. Jean Carroll Jury,” The Atlantic, Juliette Kayyem
Interesting but foreboding piece in The Atlantic. In the dismissal of the jury, the judge took a moment to suggest the jury not engage in conversation or be publicly identified. Typically and after trials, the judge will dismiss the jurors by thanking them for their time and public service. These words of gratitude are usually a formality, a polite nod to a key feature of our democratic process: defendants’ right, under the Seventh Amendment, to judgment by their peers in “Suits at common law.”
Federal Judge Lewis A. Kaplan went a bit farther in talking to the jury offering a piece of practical advice to the Manhattan civil jury finding former President Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll in a luxury department store’s dressing room in 1996. Judge Kaplan offered some well founded advice. told the jurors
“My advice to you is not to identify yourselves. Not now and not for a long time. If you’re one who elects to speak to others and to identify yourselves to others, I direct you not to identify anyone else who sat on this jury. Each of you owes that to the other whatever you decided for yourself.”
Those words were jarring and yet seemed wise in light of Trump’s habit of directing violence, threats, and general mayhem against the peaceful functioning of our democratic norms.
E. Jean Carroll May Sue Trump a Third Time After ‘Vile’ Comments on CNN
NY Times – May 9
… Mr. Trump, in response to questions from the CNN moderator about the Manhattan jury’s verdict Tuesday, called Ms. Carroll a “wack job” and said her civil trial was “a rigged deal.” The audience had been drawn primarily from Republican groups, and his comments drew applause and laughter.
Ms. Carroll said she was infuriated when her longtime stylist told her on Thursday morning that the stylist’s 15-year-old son was talking about what Mr. Trump had said on television Wednesday.
“I am upset on the behalf of young men in America,” Ms. Carroll said. “They cannot listen to this balderdash and this old-timey view of women, which is a cave man view.”
Ms. Carroll, 79, is now weighing whether to file a new defamation lawsuit against Mr. Trump, said her lawyer, Roberta A. Kaplan. In addition to the case that ended Tuesday, Ms. Carroll has an earlier defamation suit against Mr. Trump, 76, that is still pending. Mr. Trump has argued in that case that he cannot be sued because he made those comments in his official capacity as president. …