MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace reported Thursday that the lawyer for E. Jean Carroll rested the case after a week of testimony from the petitioner and friends of hers. On the final day, the lawyers reviewed some of the video clips from Donald Trump's deposition that they argue helped tear down his own defense.
Legal analyst Lisa Rubin called the testimony of Carol Martin, Carroll's friend, powerful because she confessed regrets and guilt she's felt over the years.
Wallace recalled Trump's defense, which he had used with Jessica Leeds accusations as well. He claimed, "She's not my type." Carroll's lawyer essentially destroyed that defense.
"That's easily one of the most powerful pieces of evidence in this case," said Rubin. "When the plaintiff's lawyers opened, that picture was the last thing that they showed the jury. They told the jury that they would hear from Trump in his own words that he had mistaken that picture of E. Jean Carroll for his second wife, Marla Maples, who was just his type. No question, that's extraordinarily powerful evidence. I should also say that during that deposition, one of the things that I found powerful was when he was asked whether he essentially 'owns' the 'Access Hollywood' statement about when you are a star they let you do it. He was asked, is that true? Rather than back away said, historically, for a million years, that's been the case. Fortunately or unfortunately. Then she asked the damaging follow-up. Is it fair to say that you are a star? He said, 'that's fair to say. Yeah, when you are a star, they will let you do it. I'm a star.'"
"My God. I think I threw up in my mouth," said Wallace.
Former prosecutor and law school professor Barbara McQuade said that history is allowed in sexual assault cases so that they can make an inference about whether someone engages in that kind of "behavior." Bank robberies or drug deals don't have that.
"But there's a rule of evidence that says you hear about the modus operandi of someone who engages in sexual assault," she explained. "This idea of 'I go up to women and kiss them and grab them,' that's consistent. It was not just E. Jean Carroll who said this happened, but two other women testified about how this same scenario played out. This admission about 'They let you do it when you are a star, and I am a star,' I think, tells a consistent story."
Boston Globe columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr spoke about the way in which what a "good rape victim" looks like has been on trial too. There were many tropes that were trotted out by Trump's lawyer, Joe Tacopina. Things like what she looked like, if she fought back hard enough, or if she screamed as if those things determined whether or not it was what Republican Todd Akin called a "legitimate rape."
"I think an important thing to Donald Trump's comments is the fact that when asked, have you cheated on one of your wives? He said, 'I don't know,'" recalled Atkins Stohr. "There's something called witness credibility that is important in a trial. If someone says they don't know if they have cheated on a spouse ... I have never cheated but I would think if I did that would be something I would remember."
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