Expert flags part of Engoron's Trump ruling that could make it 'appellate proof'

Donald Trump has vowed that he will be successful in overturning his recent civil fraud judgment in which he was ordered to pay hundreds of millions of dollars, but the judge in the case may have thought about that already and planned ahead, according to one legal expert.

MSNBC legal analyst Danny Cevallos appeared on MSNBC's Alex Witt Reports, where he was asked about Justice Engoron's decision to withdraw a "corporate death penalty" order that could have permanently revoked Trump's business licenses in New York. While Engoron previously issued such an order, he backed off at the time of making his final decision in the case.

"The judge backed off ruling for Trump to immediately dissolve or sell his assets," the host pointed out. "CNBC has written, Judge Arthur Engoron vacated his own prior directive to cancel business certificates, meaning he's no longer pushing what some legal experts described as a corporate penalty for the Trump Organization. Why did the judge decide to do that?"

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One possibility, Cevallos explained, is that Engoron "may have been open to the testimony and maybe changed his view of the case since he entered a summary judgment."

"He may have been swayed by some of the evidence," he said.

But the more likely explanation, according to the attorney, is that he was making "this more appellate proof."

"In other words, by reducing the punishment, he makes this a more palatable decision to an appeals court. Had he kept on with the corporate death penalty, as it is called, an appeals court, the appellate division second department or highest court in New York, the Court of Appeals, may have concluded that this was just too harsh a penalty."

He added that outcome would be "not particularly likely, but this is a unique case without a lot of precedent."

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