“It’s clear Trump wanted to avoid the bloodbath of a cross-examination but wanted to say something”
Former President Donald Trump spent just three minutes on the witness stand Thursday in his defamation trial brought by E. Jean Carroll, using his testimony to declare that he backs his prior deposition denying the writer’s claims.
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As Trump left the courtroom, according to The Messenger’s Adam Klasfeld, he complained to the press in the gallery, saying, “It’s not America. It’s not America. This is not America.”
She’s not a competent lawyer by even the most generous of standards. I agree that this was absolutely his idea, but she also has a fiduciary responsibility to her clients, so the blame is certainly hers. He can’t actually take the stand unless called by a lawyer, and no competent lawyer would have done that (and some of his other lawyers even prevented him in other cases).
She’s a colossal fuckup, no matter whose hairbrained idea it was initially.
You cannot blame a lawyer for allowing their client to testify, they literally have an ethical obligation to allow a client to testify if the client chooses to (ABA Model Rule 3.3(9) ). You can call her competency into question for other reasons, but she would absolutely be sanctioned if she didn’t allow him to testify.
Neat! I learned something! Thanks.
While technically true, his lawyer must call him to the stand if he wants it. Lawyers aren’t ethically allowed to silence their own clients’ testimony, even if it is damaging to the case. The lawyer can argue with the client ahead of time and tell them it’s a horrible idea. But if the client refuses to budge and insists, the lawyer has an ethical obligation to call them to the stand. She could literally be cited by the bar association for refusing to let him testify.
And I guess that’s the reason why two of his lawyers withdrew, one even the day before trial, because they could not convince him to stay silent and did not want to watch him testify and could not hinder him to testify because of the law.