Column: Losing track of all the cases against Trump? Here’s why E. Jean Carroll’s is so damning

The various authorized perils amassing towards former President Trump have a approach of blurring collectively at this level. However the civil trial of the author E. Jean Carroll’s lawsuit for assault and defamation, which started Tuesday in New York, is about to face out dramatically from the pack.

That’s as a result of the legislation, the proof and the personalities concerned portend a lopsided and comparatively transient trial that may painting Trump vividly as a liar, bully and sexual predator.

And we will in all probability add “coward” to that as a result of Trump determined to not even present up Tuesday to face Carroll’s severe allegations. It’s a calculation that’s more likely to provoke resentment and contempt from the jury.

Not that the jurors, who had been chosen Tuesday, will want any further causes to carry Trump accountable. Carroll’s proof will possible be greater than sufficient, particularly contemplating the poverty of Trump’s protection.

We are able to anticipate the case to characteristic Trump’s personal phrases in his deposition and elsewhere, all of that are admissible below the principles of proof. That might embrace such gems as Trump’s calling Carroll “a whack job” he had “by no means met” and mistaking the author for his ex-wife Marla Maples when he was proven {a photograph} of her.

The dramatic centerpiece will likely be Carroll’s personal account of the violent three minutes throughout which she says Trump raped her within the dressing room of a division retailer. Two witnesses who heard her harrowing story quickly afterward are anticipated to rebut Trump’s public accusation that Carroll is making all of it up.

It will get even worse for the previous president. Beneath a provision of the federal proof code generally known as Rule 415, the court docket could admit proof that the defendant “dedicated some other sexual assault.” It’s a rule specific to sexual assault trials; proof of previous crimes isn’t normally allowed in court docket so readily. And whereas a jury isn’t supposed to attract on such proof to conclude that “if he did it earlier than, he should have performed it this time,” it’s an inference that’s arduous to keep away from.

Beneath 415, U.S. District Decide Lewis Kaplan has dominated that Carroll’s crew could current the testimony of two different alleged Trump victims, Jessica Leeds and Natasha Stoynoff, who say Trump assaulted them on an airplane and at Mar-a-Lago, respectively. The jury can be anticipated to listen to the notorious “Entry Hollywood” tape by which Trump bragged about grabbing ladies’s genitals.

There will likely be a couple of different witnesses, however that is unlikely to be an extended trial. Carroll’s case will in all probability take a couple of week to current.

How will Trump reply this damning proof? He gave the court docket and Carroll an inventory of precisely two witnesses — an knowledgeable to rebut certainly one of Carroll’s witnesses and himself.

For causes I’ve detailed earlier than, it’s extremely inconceivable that Trump will take the stand. Carroll’s formidable lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, would have a area day exposing him as an inveterate liar and singularly unreliable witness. The asymmetrical guidelines of proof prohibit Trump from utilizing his deposition or his different out-of-court statements in his personal protection; he can solely testify to that finish.

Trump’s protection has different issues. His lawyer, Joe Tacopina, is a blustery brawler and a poor selection given the fees. Furthermore, Tacopina has already provoked the ire of the no-nonsense trial choose with stunts designed to get across the guidelines, together with a current “movement for clarification” concerning Stoynoff’s anticipated testimony. Carroll’s legal professional, in contrast, has a commanding courtroom presence and particular experience in representing victims of sexual assault.

And since it is a civil trial, Carroll’s prices want solely be confirmed by “a preponderance of the proof,” not the harder legal commonplace of “past an affordable doubt.”

Current months have made the once-Teflon Trump look newly weak on many fronts. I anticipate the Carroll case to maneuver rapidly from allegations towards Trump to adjudication, a milestone on his lengthy highway to accountability.

Harry Litman is the host of the “Speaking Feds” podcast. @harrylitman