The $83.3 million award to Donald Trump's sexual assault accuser E. Jean Carroll presents a tall task to the former president's legal team to trim it substantially since they "annoyed the jury".
According to CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson, the bravado exhibited by Trump's legal team grated on the jury and damaged any possibility of lessening the damages owed to Carroll, who initially was seeking just $10 million.
Last year, she won a $5 million judgment in a separate defamation case against Trump.
The 45th president is appealing the earlier judgment and came forward shortly after learning the latest ruling on his way to Nevada to campaign for president and indicated would appeal the $83.3 million assessment too.
"Just tonally, the tone of the defense team was disconnected from reality," said Jackson. "And I think it annoyed the jury."
It may be that Trump's strategy was to play to the public and in doing so engage in a white-knuckled approach. But Jackson said the posturing and combative nature with Judge Lewis Kaplan took its toll on the ones deciding how much damages Trump must pay.
"At some point you have to be contrite," he said. "At some point you have to accept responsibility, perhaps it could have gone a different way."
ALSO READ: Why Trump was the worst boss ever — according to 12 of his top White House officials
Not to mention Trump and his entourage dashing out of court in the middle of Carroll's attorney was delivering her closing arguments, he argued.
"You don't storm out of courtrooms in the middle of closing arguments," he said. "I think a case is just not about after a verdict making arguments before a judge as to the disproportionality of the verdict as to whether it could have been different as to what happened."
"The Trump team played for that 13th juror, we call it the 13th juror, the people at home the politics the election year, and this is about what happened in a courtroom," he said. "And I think that was a missed opportunity.
"And I think the damages that were awarded although they were significant, certainly have a good chance of standing."
Watch below or at the link.
