Trump calls for mistrial in civil rape case, says judge has made ‘unfair’ rulings

Former President Trump’s legal team has requested a mistrial in E. Jean Carroll’s civil suit against him, citing “unfair” rulings.

Trump attorney Joe Tacopina argued in a letter, filed Monday in Manhattan federal court, that a mistrial should be granted “based upon pervasive unfair and prejudicial rulings by the Court.” 

Carroll, 79, has accused Trump of raping her in a Bergdorf Goodman department store in New York City in the 1990s. Carroll, a longtime columnist for Elle magazine, is suing for battery and defamation, claiming Trump defamed her when he denied the allegations.

In the 18-page letter, Tacopina lays out a number of alleged reasons for a mistrial, including arguments that the court, led by U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, has “mischaracterized evidence” in Carroll’s favor and sustained improper objections from the plaintiff’s team. 

If a mistrial isn’t granted, Tacopina argued in the Monday filing, the court should correct the record and give Trump’s team more latitude to cross-examine Carroll and other plaintiff witnesses.

Trial opened with jury selection in the case last week.

“I’m here because Donald Trump raped me, and when I wrote about it, he said it didn’t happen,” Carroll began her testimony, according to The Associated Press. “He lied and shattered my reputation, and I’m here to try and get my life back.”

Carroll’s suit is one of a number of court battles now facing the former president. He was charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records by the Manhattan district attorney last month for his alleged role in a 2016 hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels.