'The wrong way': Legal expert says Alina Habba missed points she could have scored
Former President Donald Trump's attorney Alina Habba was so busy trying to attack and discredit advice columnist E. Jean Carroll at her defamation trial against the former president that she missed moments where she could have mounted a stronger defense of her own client, argued former federal prosecutor Harry Litman on MSNBC Wednesday evening.
Such moments included when she attempted to push for a mistrial over purportedly deleted evidence, and accused Carroll of illegally possessing a gun.
"Trump knew what he was doing," said anchor Alicia Menendez. "Today, for him, was about making this a show about making this a spectacle, the entire back-and-forth with Judge [Lewis] Kaplan where [he] says, I know what you want me to do. You want me to toss you from this courtroom. It is apparent. It is clear. There is no subtext here, Harry."
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"At all," agreed Litman. "He was a spectacular jack-ss, showing disrespect for everyone, including the jury. I guarantee you, whether or not there was eye contact, they absolutely noticed at the end of testimony, Trump stands up, strides out of the courtroom. Everyone, I mean everybody in a court setting, waits for the jury to stand up and leave first, and he didn't do it. He showed contempt for all."
"I think Habba is not simply lacking in mechanics but in judgment here," Litman continued. "She chose, really, the wrong way to try to go after a victim like E. Jean Carroll. There were points she could have scored, and instead, whether to grandstand for her client or just because she doesn't know better, she just tried to savage her."
Litman added that the exact amount of the judgment, which could total hundreds of millions, is the key question.
"There's a general rule of thumb that courts of appeals ... don't allow a huge disproportion between the compensatory part and the punitive part. Sometimes it's expressed as five or six, and yet here we have a being billionaire who's been absolutely incorrigible. It may take more than a court of appeals may endorse. Nevertheless, he has only hope seems to be that they award so much in punitive damages that and it's trimmed on appeal."
Watch the video below or at the link here.
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