incorrect. The prosecutor wasn't objecting. The judge was stepping in before an objection was made. not a common thing at all. Bluntly between that and how the judge reacted when the motion for a mistrial was put forth it really shows how Biased he has been. Reacting like he did to it makes it seem like it actually has teeth to it. This is just gonna be red meat to the Trump base and be taken as further evidence of how the justice system is breaking it's norms just to get the orange man. not good for maintaining the legitimacy of the court. I don't think many big businesses are gonna want to stay in NYC after this. or real estate investors. or banks.
You seem to be forgetting: this is a civil bench trial, not a criminal jury trial.
In a bench trial the Judge is both the referee in charge of ensuring fairness
for both sides and the jury (of one) which has to render a decision based on the facts presented. The Judge
in a civil bench trial can pre-empt both sides in ways which won't happen in a jury trial because;
- as the jury, he's trying the facts of the case in ways which, according to the 7th Amendment of the US Constitution, can not be appealed
- as the jury, he has the final say on what is and isn't relevant testimony and evidence
In a bench trial a motion for a mistrial is also almost never granted because mistrials almost always result in a reset and restart with "let's try this again with the same judge".
You are also quite correct in that the antics on Trump's side is all red meat to the Trump base. Trump and Co. already lost on the financial fraud accusation part of the case in a pre-trial
summary judgement.
This is the "Exactly how much fraud was committed?" and the "What's the monetary part of the penalty for said fraud?" part of the case. In order to appeal the summary judgement Trump and Co. or a bonding company has to post the monetary part plus interest as part of the appeal.
NYAG Letitia James said "$250m sounds about right" when the case was filed.
Michael Cohen - Trump's former fixer - thinks the amount will be at least $600m.
I don't know about you, but if I had that kind of cash I sure as hell wouldn't post any of it on behalf of someone who is trying to appeal a summary judgement against them for financial fraud. That would go double when said someone also has a long history of getting sued by people who he owed money to but didn't pay.
I'll trust a homeless bum who says "Can I borrow $50?" before I'll trust Trump with a single penny. The bum's probably going to repay you - at least in part - if he can. Trump will stiff you if he thinks he can get away with it.
