Judge Lewis Kaplan purposefully did not disclose why he advised jurors to keep their identities secret in the high profile case

Judge Lewis Kaplan purposefully did not disclose why he advised jurors to keep their identities secret in the high profile case

After the verdict was read in the defamation trial between writer E Jean Carroll and former president Donald Trump, the judge overseeing the trial suggested the jurors never reveal their identities.

At the end of the two-week trial, the jurors, who were purposefully made anonymous due to the high-profile nature of the case, are now free to identify themselves by name if they wish.

“My advice to you is that you never disclose that you were on this jury,” Judge Lewis Kaplan advised them in the courtroom.

Judge Kaplan did not explicitly explain why he was offering the advice, however, previous legal actions against the ex-president have led to threats of violence against both jurors and judges from Trump supporters.

    • themeatbridge@lemmy.world
      0·
      10 months ago

      If you’re asking why Trump wasn’t charged with sexual assault, it’s because the statute of limitations had run out. She was able to prove to a jury in civil court that there was a preponderance of evidence that he sexually assaulted her. His deposition was played for the jury but he did not attend the trial. In the deposition, he denied ever meeting the victim and called her crazy. She testified for two days, had corroborating witnesses, and photos of her with Trump proving they had met. Trump was shown the photo in his deposition and confused the victim for his wife at the time, Marla Maples.

      Two additional victims testified that he assaulted them in the same way, and they had the audio of the tape where Trump says he can grab women by the pussy.

      So Trump’s statements

      • He didn’t know her, never met her
      • He wouldn’t assault her because she’s ugly
      • He didn’t assault her, that’s a lie she made up

      Her evidence

      • Photo of them together
      • He thought she looked like his wife
      • Pattern of assault and private admissions that he assaults women

      It feels icky disproving that second one, but it just demonstrates that every statement is a proven lie.

      Would that be enough to convict him of sexual assault in New York? We won’t know that for sure, but we do know that Trump sexually assaults women.