Powerless Cross-Examination: Trump Lawyer Fails to Discredit Rape Accuser in Court
During the cross-examination of E. Jean Carroll in Donald Trump rape trial, Joe Tacopina, Trump’s lead lawyer, made several mistakes that demonstrated how not to conduct a cross-examination in federal court.
As a result, Tacopina filed an 18-page motion for a mistrial before the second day of cross-examination, claiming that Judge Lewis Kaplan had violated Trump’s rights.
The movement had no chance of success and was designed to allow Tacopina to show Trump that he was trying his best to get Judge Kaplan to reverse himself.
Predictably, Judge Kaplan denied the motion. One of the central rules of cross-examination is to refrain from reinforcing the testimony provided by the witness during the direct testimony.
Tacopina did the opposite, allowing Carroll to repeat her direct testimony for several minutes, but he had nothing substantial to convince the jury that she was lying.
In addition, he frequently asked questions he did not know the answer to, violating another rule for strong cross-examination. Tacopina also lost control of the courtroom by ceding power to a video.
During the cross-examination, Judge Kaplan frequently treated Tacopina as a fool who did not know the basics of the rules of evidence, sustaining several objections to lines of questions.
In addition, whenever Tacopina tried to use snide comments or repetition to undercut Carroll’s credibility, Judge Kaplan sustained objections or told Tacopina to move along.
Judge Kaplan’s disdain for Tacopina’s blustering and preening permitted the jurors to disregard Tacopina’s questions as improper.
Tacopina had only about five minutes of strong cross-examination hidden in about eight hours of ineffective questioning. His best questions were when he used Carroll’s words to refute some of her direct testimony.
Tacopina gave a juror precious little reason to reconsider their conclusion if they believed Carroll’s direct testimony that Trump raped her.
In conclusion, Joe Tacopina’s cross-examination of E. Jean Carroll in Donald Trump’s rape trial demonstrated how to avoid cross-examination in federal court.
He violated several rules of strong cross-examination, filed a motion for a mistrial without success, and lost control of the courtroom.
Judge Kaplan’s disdain for Tacopina’s blustering and preening permitted the jurors to disregard Tacopina’s questions as improper.
Tacopina had only about five minutes of strong cross-examination hidden in about eight hours of ineffective questioning.
This gave a juror little reason to reconsider their conclusion if they believed Carroll’s direct testimony that Trump raped her.