āGlaringly obviousā incompetence on display as judge tells jury to ādisregard everything Ms. Habba just saidā
Trump lawyer Alina Habba struggled through her cross-examination of E. Jean Carroll on Wednesday.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who is overseeing the defamation case against the former president, repeatedly admonished the attorney for running afoul of his court rules and general procedures.
Prior to Carrollās testimony, Habba requested an adjournment so that Trump could attend his mother-in-lawās funeral.
āThe application is denied. I will hear no further argument on it. None. Do you understand that word? None. Please sit down,ā Kaplan, a Bill Clinton appointee, told Habba about the motion that he already denied.
Kaplan repeatedly interrupted Habbaās questions, including when she began to read from a document that had not been formally entered into evidence, sending the trial to a recess.
This is a pretty good indicator of the quality of her legal guidance, in that sheās halfway to a valid form of objection, but seems to have forgotten the other half of it. You are allowed to object to evidence or testimony that is more prejudicial (i.e. āthe defendant was seen kicking puppies at the dog park on a weekly basisā) than it is probative, meaning that ts useful in proving or disproving the allegations (the case was actually about a bank robbery not involving puppies at all). You canāt just cry āprejudiced!ā and expect the judge to go along with you.
Trumpās team also did themselves no favors by objecting out of turn, especially after he explicitly ordered āone witness, one lawyerā during a recess.