After Donald Trump was found liable for the sexual abuse and defamation of writer E. Jean Carroll in 2023, court reconvened in January. This time, Carroll was suing Trump for other instances where he defamed her, and the former president’s lawyer, Alina Habba, planned to argue that the writer personally benefited from his verbal attacks. It didn’t go well, especially during the second day. Judge Lewis Kaplan reprimanded her 14 times that day, lecturing her on basic legal procedures. Amusingly, at one point while Habba was cross-examining Carroll, the writer’s counsel objected, prompting Kaplan to ask why. “I don’t know what she’s talking about,” replied Carroll’s lawyer, per Business Insider. “Neither do I,” noted Kaplan.
But things got a bit stranger when Kaplan turned down Habba’s request to postpone proceedings so that Trump could attend his mother-in-law’s funeral in Europe. After Kaplan reminded Habba that Trump could be represented by legal counsel in his absence, Habba admitted, per Newsweek, “I don’t know how to try this case, Your Honor.” Legal experts quickly jumped on that admission and other gaffes, including Habba’s failure to stand when addressing the court. “These are pretty basic things most lawyers kinda know,” said former prosecutor Ron Filipkowski on X (formerly Twitter). “From my perspective, I would regret having her represent him,” said Tim Parlatore, a former Trump attorney, on CNN. “I do think that in both of these trials, he was essentially undefended. And I think that it could have turned out differently.”
