Trump can’t blame ‘burdens’ on NYC for not attending his trial for sexual assault: judge
By Ben Feuerherd
April 21, 2023 2:41pm
A federal judge who will oversee Donald Trump’s sexual assault civil trial in Manhattan says the former president is free to skip attending the trial — but that he cannot claim he did so to avoid “burdens” on the city that his presence in court might cause.
US District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan set the ground rules in an order Thursday in response to a request by Trump lawyer Joe Tacopina that jurors be instructed that Trump didn’t attend in order to avoid “logistical burdens.”
In proposed jury instructions submitted Wednesday, Tacopina requested that the judge tell panelists: “While no litigant is required to appear at a civil trial, the absence of the defendant in this matter, by design, avoids the logistical burdens that his presence, as the former president, would cause the courthouse and New York City.
“Accordingly, his presence is excused unless and until he is called by either party to testify.”
In his order Thursday, Kaplan said Trump’s lawyers, for now, could not raise the alleged “burdens” to the jury if he chooses not to attend.
“Mr. Trump is free to attend, to testify, or both. He is free also to do none of those things,” Kaplan wrote in the one-page order.
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https://nypost.com/2023/04/21/trump-cant-blame-burdens-on-nyc-for-not-attending-his-trial-for-rape-judge/
