NEW YORK — If the Secret Service can protect Donald Trump at a New Hampshire campaign rally, it can keep him safe during his civil rape case, a Manhattan federal court judge ruled Thursday.
Judge Lewis Kaplan declined the former president’s request Thursday for a special instruction to jurors should he choose to sit out his Manhattan civil rape trial.
Trump’s lawyer Joe Tacopina argued his client’s “unique status” as the former president should excuse his presence as it would cause a logistical nightmare for New York City, asking the judge to explain that to jurors. Trump isn’t legally required to attend the trial but attorneys typically advise their clients do as it looks better to the jury.
“The decision whether to attend or to testify is his alone to make. There is nothing for the Court to excuse,” Kaplan wrote, saying he was “entirely confident” U.S. Marshals and city authorities are capable of ensuring Trump and New Yorkers’ safety should he choose to attend.
“(The) Court notes from Mr. Trump’s campaign web site and media reports that he announced earlier this week that he will speak at a campaign event in New Hampshire on April 27, 2023, the third day of the scheduled trial in this case,” Kaplan noted.
“If the Secret Service can protect him at that event, certainly the Secret Service, the Marshals Service, and the City of New York can see to his security in this very secure federal courthouse.”
Lawyers for E. Jean Carroll, who is suing Trump for sexual battery and defamation claims in alleging he raped her inside Bergdorf Goodman on Fifth Avenue in the mid-1990s and slandered her when she spoke out, said they don’t care whether he turns up.
“(He) has the right to decline to appear at trial, and to accept any associated consequences,” Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, wrote in a Wednesday filing. “Given the gravity of the allegations at issue in this case, one might expect Mr. Trump to appear in person.
“Either way, Ms. Carroll has a right to play Donald Trump’s deposition at trial ... so she has no need for him to testify live,” she added.
Tacopina had referenced the media circus surrounding Trump’s recent criminal court arraignment down the street from where he’ll go on trial against Carroll.
“His movement would need to be coordinated ... by a Secret Service advance team hours beforehand each day that he is present, so that a tactical plan may be developed,” Tacopina wrote.
“Courthouse floors would need to be locked down, elevators shut down, courthouse personnel confined to their offices, and members of the public restricted from the area.”
Carroll’s lawyers had pointed out that Trump has had no problem attending other events across the country as he runs for the White House for the third time.
“Mr. Trump’s position is especially difficult to credit in light of his own recent activity. Over the past few weeks, Mr. Trump attended the Ultimate Fighting Championship 287 event, spoke at the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting, and appeared for a deposition in the New York Attorney General’s civil case against Mr. Trump, his adult children, and the Trump Organization,” Roberta Kaplan wrote.
“If Mr. Trump can find a way to attend wrestling championships, political conventions, civil depositions, and campaign functions, then surely he could surmount the logistics of attending his own federal trial.”
Tacopina declined to comment on the ruling.
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