Legal experts skewered Alina Habba’s “comedy of bumbling errors” in Trump defamation trial
Former President Donald Trump’s appeal of the $83.3 million verdict in the defamation case brought by E. Jean Carroll is unlikely to succeed, legal experts say.
“Let me ruin the suspense for everyone. Trump doesn’t have an appeal,” Nashville lawyer Brian Manookian argued Friday. “I know the talking heads on TV who have never tried a case or appealed a jury verdict have to mention it. Here’s why it isn’t going to fly.”
A person must “preserve a reversible error at the trial level” in order to have a case with merit on appeal, Manookian explained, ultimately blaming Trump’s lack thereof on his legal team in the case.
“This is why you hire competent counsel. You need someone who actually knows the rules of evidence and procedure,” he said. “Alina Habba had no clue what was occurring throughout the trial. She not only failed to preserve any remote grounds for appeal, like a moron, she repeatedly and unintentionally waived them over and over.”
Can he call for an appeal or mistrial based on inadequate legal protection or ineffective assistance of council?
Is that a thing?
Not in a civil trial. That’s only for criminal trials.
Cool, thanks
Won’t stop him from trying. Delay, delay, delay
Having to put up 120% of the judgment amount in order to file an appeal might stop him, however. He probably doesn’t have that much cash lying around, and his properties may be tied up in other legal matters, so he might not be able to use them as collateral.
He’ll just use campaign funds and hope he becomes president so he can pardon himself for illegally using campaign funds
Saudis might sport a bond for him. They’re pretty tight.
You can appeal civil cases. Happens all the time. You constantly hear “jury awarded 1 billion dollars but was reduced to 50 dollars on appeals.”
https://www.law.com/dailyreportonline/2023/12/07/what-if-the-jury-awarded-1b-ga-appellate-court-weighs-maximum-for-nominal-damages/?slreturn=20240030084445
Is there an upper limit for a jury award of nominal damages? The Georgia Court of Appeals is set to weigh in after Walmart, represented by attorneys from Florida-based firm GrayRobinson, appealed a $1 million personal injury verdict on Tuesday, arguing the jury awarded nothing for pain, suffering or medical losses and $1 million is not a “trivial amount”—even if the defendant is Walmart.
They didn’t say you couldn’t appeal a civil case. They said that ineffective counsel can’t be the basis of that appeal.
I think it can be argued by a competent appeals attorney but the likes of them working with Trump at this end-game are 0.