Donald Trump's lawyer Joe Tacopina demanded a mistrial in an early Monday morning filing in the civil lawsuit filed by E. Jean Carroll. In his filing, Tacopina outlined all the ways he believes Judge Lewis Kaplan has worked against his client and proclaimed it a miscarriage of justice. The judge denied it.
Legal analysts were quick to pour cold water on the effort.
However, MSNBC legal analyst Laura Jarrett explained that it was an effort by Tacopina to set up the appeal they would try for after losing the case.
"The idea was that some of his rulings hadn't been favorable to the defense team," Jarrett explained. "Joe Tacopina filed it earlier this morning, undoubtedly knowing he's not going to win it, but is laying the groundwork for an appeal. So, they have to make a record of all the evidentiary objections that were sustained, and the judge didn't go for. The judge didn't even explain why he was denying the mistrial motion. It was done in a cursory manner this morning, and everyone kept going."
Trump left for Europe on Monday morning, making it clear that he wasn't likely going to make an appearance in the trial.
Jarrett went on to anticipate that Carroll's lawyer would point to Trump going "everywhere in the world except this courtroom." He's been on the campaign trail, to boxing matches, in Scotland and Ireland to "survey his properties." But he hasn't come to the court to explain himself.
