Clinton-appointed Judge Lewis Kaplan on Wednesday denied Trump's request for a mistrial in the defamation case brought by E. Gene Carroll even though Carroll deleted evidence under the subpoena.
Last month, a nine-person jury ordered Trump to pay a total of $83.3 million to EA. Gene Carroll for statements he made defending himself against false rape accusations.
Trump's team argued that evidence Carroll omitted proves she was receiving threats before President Trump commented on her allegations.
Judge Kaplan defended Carroll and said that Trump provided no evidence that he tried to recover the deleted messages.
“Trump has provided no evidence that he ever attempted to recover any of these letters through discovery or otherwise,” Mr. Kaplan said, according to NBC News. “In fact, he does not even dispute that the letters in question have been permanently lost.” It cannot be recovered now. This failure alone was sufficient grounds to deny the alternative relief he sought.
Kaplan also said that even if Trump's claims about E. Jean Carroll's deleted messages were accurate, they were still not enough to justify commutation.
“Even if accurate, it is not sufficient to justify relief,” Kaplan said in the 30-page decision on Wednesday.
President Trump appeared in court last month while E. Jean Carroll testified in a trial where a jury will decide how much Trump must pay for his allegedly “defamatory” statements about her.
Judge Lewis Kaplan, a Clinton appointee, previously ruled that Trump was liable for the defamatory statements he made about Jean Carroll after she accused him of rape.
In 2019, E. Jane Carroll alleged that Donald Trump raped her in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman in the 1990s.
Trump denied the allegations and described E. Jean Carroll described it as a “hit job” that was “not my type”.
Under questioning by Trump lawyer Alina Haba, E. Jean Carroll admitted that she deleted the emails under a subpoena.
Judge Kaplan intervened for Carroll.
Heba: You said that you receive death threats daily – but you deleted them until the trial? Explain what you mean.
Judge Kaplan: Explain what you mean by what?
Habba: When did you stop deleting death threats?
Carol: I didn't receive their number.– Inner City Press (innercitypress) January 17, 2024
President Trump's lawyer Alina Haba asked Carroll if she had received a subpoena.
“Yes,” Carol replied before admitting that she had deleted the emails.
Haba: So do you have death threats?
Carol: I deleted them.
Haba: So you-
Carroll's Lawyer: Asked and answered.
Haba: This is a very important question
Carroll's lawyer: I object to the comment as well– Inner City Press (innercitypress) January 17, 2024
Carroll admitted deleting the emails under a subpoena because she did not want to bother her attorney.
Haba: Do you keep supporting emails?
Carol: Yes. I tend to delete questions that I know I won't use. But I have a complete classification of supporting messages.
Haba: Do you control your email?
Carol: Yes.
Haba: So you just deleted it?
Carol: Yes.– Inner City Press (innercitypress) January 17, 2024
Judge Kaplan was quick to defend E. Jean Carroll after Alina Haba filed for a mistrial after Carroll admitted to deleting massive amounts of evidence.
The Trump team renewed its motion to seek a mistrial and once again Judge Kaplan sided with E. Jean Carroll.
