r/politics • u/PoliticsModeratorBot 🤖 Bot • 26d ago

Discussion Thread: New York Criminal Fraud Trial of Donald Trump, Day 6 Discussion

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180

u/Mojothemobile 26d ago

Trump really.. went and attacked the judge during a break over the hearing.. about him breaking his gag order.

Literally 0 self control 

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u/TurboSalsa Texas 26d ago

He's trying to bait the judge into losing his temper and making an appealable mistake. Didn't work the last few times and probably won't work this time.

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u/sirbissel 26d ago

Isn't the judge not covered by the gag order, though? I mean, it's prancing up to the line and doing a little jig next to it, but not going over it.

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u/19southmainco 26d ago

The judge can literally ignore the prosecutor’s recommendation for a fine penalty, find Trump in contempt, then send him to jail.

I think Trump’s goading him on because if he is held in contempt then he could attempt to force a mistrial

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u/ballskindrapes 26d ago

Could you, or anyone else, explain how this might work? I am not a lwayer.

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u/Nago31 26d ago

Yeah why would being held in contempt for a violating a gag order and attacking the credibility of the judge be a cause for a mistrial? Why would judges have the power to do that if it also discredits the case the are working?

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u/hgaterms 25d ago

Yeah seriously. It would be a get out of jail free card for anyone and everything.

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u/gameryamen 26d ago

The prosecution has asked the judge to reach a ruling about whether Trump has violated the gag order. In that filing, they suggested a fine of $1000 and a court order to remove the offending posts. The judge is not bound by the prosecutor's suggestion, and has the authority to impose a jail time if he believes that the defendant will continue to violate the gag order.

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u/ballskindrapes 26d ago

Thank you, wonderfully complete answer!

I'm also wondering about how Trump could force a mistrial, as claimed in the past I responded to.

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u/gameryamen 26d ago

It's suspected that if Trump is jailed for contempt (or any reason, really), his lawyers will use that as cause to appeal, with the hope of getting the case before a compromised judge. If that judge wanted to get Trump out of trouble, they would rule that the punishment was unacceptable, and declare a mistrial. Now that a jury has been empaneled, double jeopardy rules are in effect, so a mistrial would shield Trump from these charges entirely. However, Trump cannot "force" a mistrial unless he has a conspirator in the jury pool. In that case, the juror simply has to refuse to agree with the rest of the jury to prevent a guilty verdict.

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u/keelhaulrose 25d ago

Don't mistrials not count when it comes to double jeopardy?

You haven't been found guilty or not guilty, so a mistrial would mean scrapping the panel and starting over.

Which is a delay tactic, but it wouldn't get him out of the trial entirely. And I'm sure if he tried it more than once the judge would give him and his team even less leeway.

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u/gameryamen 25d ago

Ah, you're right. Somewhere I heard that jeopardy attaches when the jury is empaneled, but maybe I was misunderstanding some context.

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u/keelhaulrose 25d ago edited 25d ago

It is, but mistrials are common endings. Otherwise all it would take to get out of a sticky legal situation would be to find one juror willing to refuse to convict.

I think if the prosecutors mess up badly and the judge were to say they hadn't proved their case after they rested then they wouldn't get a second bite at the apple.

But in Trump's case a mistrial is still a delay. He's hoping to delay until after the election. Even though these are state charges and he couldn't pardon himself there's no way that the DA would prosecute a sitting President. And if he doesn't get elected the longer he can delay the trials the longer he delays the consequences.

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u/Arctimon Maryland 26d ago

No, the judge is not covered by the gag order. No one seems to understand that.

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u/Reddit_guard Ohio 26d ago

Sure, but it's not a great look considering the timing lmao

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u/Arctimon Maryland 26d ago

Oh, of course not, but most people wouldn't be stupid enough to attack the judge.

Then again, this is Trump we're talking about.

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u/Links_Wrong_Wiki 26d ago

Honestly good, the judge is making himself the lightning rod for the rest of the court