Donald Trump’s attempt to postpone his future civil rape trial was denied by the judge, who chastised him for being somewhat to blame for drawing attention to his legal woes.
As a “cooling off” time following his arraignment on unrelated criminal charges, the former US president’s attorneys requested a one-month postponement of the ra.pe case, brought by author E. Jean Carroll, scheduled to be heard in federal court in New York on April 25.
They argued that Trump’s chances of receiving a fair trial were hindered by the negative publicity surrounding his April 4 arraignment for falsifying business records.
Donald Trump’s attempt to postpone his future civil rape trial was denied by the judge, who chastised him for being somewhat to blame for drawing attention to his legal woes.
As a “cooling off” time following his arraignment on unrelated criminal charges, the former US president’s attorneys requested a one-month postponement of the rape case, brought by author E. Jean Carroll, scheduled to be heard in federal court in New York on April 25.
They argued that Trump’s chances of receiving a fair trial were hindered by the negative publicity surrounding his April 4 arraignment for falsifying business records.
Two out of three found Trump guilty.
In his ruling, Judge Kaplan stated that Trump’s actions “significantly (though certainly not entirely) invited or provoked” the media attention around his criminal case.
The judge appeared to be alluding to posts made by Trump on social media, which included one in which he could be seen slapping Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in the head with a baseball bat.
Judge Kaplan stated in his 10-page decision that the rape case was “entirely unrelated” to the criminal matter and that there was “no justification for an adjournment.”
The judge wrote: ‘The suggestion that the recent media coverage of the New York indictment – coverage significantly (though certainly not entirely) invited or provoked by Mr. Trump’s own actions – would preclude selection of a fair and impartial jury on April 25 is pure speculation’.
According to Judge Kaplan, ‘at least some portion’ of the torrent of media coverage ‘was of his own doing’.
Prosecutors cited a number of Trump’s social media statements criticizing the case during his criminal arraignment.
Trump was told by Judge Juan Merchan, who is in charge of the hush money case, to tone down his rhetoric. However, a few hours later, he did the exact opposite and stated that Judge Merchan disliked him.
In his ruling, Judge Kaplan said: ‘There has been no shortage of recent news articles focused on Mr Trump’s own public statements on his social media platform and in press conferences and interviews he has given about his indictment.
‘It does not sit well for Mr. Trump to promote pretrial publicity and then to claim that coverage that he promoted was prejudicial to him and should be taken into account as supporting a further delay’.
The mock trial that took place last month included filmed depositions from both Trump and Carroll, as well as two acquaintances she spoke with right after the alleged rape and two other women who say Trump allegedly sexually abused them.
In an effort to discredit Carroll’s credibility, the attorneys also presented texts and emails that Trump’s defense team is anticipated to introduce at trial.
‘That was the whole point of this,’ a person familiar with the proceedings told DailyMail.com. ‘They were trying to figure if Mrs. Carroll has a solid case and if she will win in civil court.’
Carroll, a former advice columnist for Elle Magazine, has accused Trump of raping her in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman in the mid-1990s. She made her allegations during his presidency and filed two civil lawsuits accusing him of sexual assault and defamation.