Posted on 10/02/2023 10:27:25 AM PDT by Miami Rebel
Former President Donald Trump has infamously attacked the judge presiding over his civil trial in New York for business fraud with regular frequency as the case has moved forward, so legal observers were surprised to learn that his legal team had declined to request a jury trial — leaving the ultimate verdict solely in that one judge’s hands.
New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit against the Trump Organization seeks penalties of $250 million and to ban Trump and his adult children from doing business in New York.
Judge Arthur Engoron already dealt a sharp blow to Trump last week, ruling in favor of James’ motion for summary judgment and finding the ex-president liable for the core claim in her lawsuit that Trump had committed fraud by massively inflating the value of his assets by billions of dollars and exaggerating his net worth in order to secure financing and close deals.
Engoron’s order also stripped the business certifications of the Trump Organization and related defendant corporate entities and directed a receiver to be put in place to “manage the dissolution” of those businesses. “Questions remain as to how the receiver would dissolve the properties; whether the ruling would impact properties outside of New York state, including Mar-a-Lago; and whether the Trumps could transfer the New York-based assets into a new company out of state,” CNN reported.
Unsurprisingly, Trump reacted to this ruling with an angry, all-caps rant on his Truth Social account blasting Engoron and James for their “politically motivated Witch Hunt” — and interestingly included among his complaints, “I am not even allowed a Jury!”
Trump again went after Engoron in his comments before the trial began on Monday morning, calling him a “rogue judge” and saying the trial was “a scam and a sham.”
Contrary to Trump’s complaint that he was “not even allowed” to have a jury, he absolutely did have the power to demand a jury trial, if only his attorneys had checked a single box on the front page of a standard New York court document.
In a civil case, the parties all have the right to request a jury; the only reason a trial would proceed without one is if both sides decline to demand one. Here, the prosecutors declined to so in their Notice for Trial, as seen in the screenshot below of a section of the first page, by checking the box next to “Trial without jury.”
Monday morning as the trial began, Engoron confirmed that he would be the finder of fact instead of a jury because “nobody asked for” a jury trial.
It’s not entirely clear why Trump’s attorneys didn’t request a jury trial. As Los Angeles Times senior legal affairs columnist Harry Litman noted, “[i]t’s incredibly easy” to do so and only requires you to “just check a box on a form.”
“Hard to believe that Trump understood his lawyers hadn’t done it when he’s been savaging the judge who is now the factfinder in his huge fraud trial,” Litman added.
As the trial began, commentators speculated whether Trump’s attorneys were engaging in some sort of strategy because they didn’t believe they would like the options they’d find in a New York City (i.e., liberal-leaning) jury pool or if they really did just forget to check the little box.
CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig told Mediaite he had heard these theories and “nobody has any way to know that,” but he did find it “interesting” that this might have been a deliberate strategy. “Wouldn’t shock me,” he added.
Honig and Caroline Polisi, a white-collar criminal defense attorney and legal analyst, both appeared on CNN Newsroom Monday morning to discuss the case.
“Another really important thing, the fact that this is not a jury trial changes everything,” Honig emphasized. “It changes everything about the public statements. It changes everything about the way you’d give your opening statement in the court. It changes everything about what witnesses you’re gonna call, how you cross-examine them, because now you’re making your case not to, in this case, six civilians, but to — not just a judge, but the judge who knows this case, he is probably the foremost expert on this case. So, that really changes the entire atmosphere here.”
CNN anchor John Berman commented on “how brief the opening statements were compared to what we are used to.”
“Yeah, the judge doesn’t have to get up to speed on anything here,” Polisi agreed, and noted how Engoron had already “looked up the receipts” as the finder of fact and ruled that there was fraud, so now the case would be focusing on “the issue of intent” on the remaining counts.
might I point out to you that there is an organized, concerted effort to STOP any qualified attorneys from working on behalf of ANY conservative, not just DJT. They are targeted, thwarted, blocked, fired, etc., etc., because they chose to represent the right side of life.
who lied??? I believe you’re on the wrong site if you think you can come to FR and spew leftist garbage
It would be interesting to see where Trump claims his primary residence.
If the assessment in Palm Beach County was only 18 million, if the property was really worth the amounts being tossed around, that would a ridiculously low assessment.
My wife and I own a 2nd residence in Florida, in a different county from our primary residence, the valuation of that property has varied wildly over the years, at one time our property taxes on the 2nd residence were more than our primary residence due to how Florida deals with 2nd homes that are not homesteaded.
Here’s the applicable law in Florida and specifically Palm Beach County, where Mar-a-Laga is located.
https://www.pbcgov.org/papa/10-percent.htm
10% Cap Assessment Limitation for Non-Homestead Property
The 10% cap became effective beginning with the 2009 tax roll. This assessment cap is only for “non-homestead” properties, that is all properties that DO NOT have a homestead exemption, such as 2nd homes, rental properties, vacation homes, vacant land or commercial property.
The 10% cap applies to all taxing authority millage rates EXCEPT the School Board millage.
The cap ensures that your assessed value will not increase more than 10% from the previous year’s assessed value. The cap will remain year over year, providing ownership does not change, homestead exemption is not applied for, there was no split or combination of the property during the previous year, and no new construction has occurred.
There’s no need to apply to receive this cap, it will automatically be applied to your property.
There is no guarantee that your taxes will be reduced due to the 10% assessment cap, as many other factors are involved such as tax rates and non-ad valorem assessments, neither of which is determined by the Property Appraiser.
The maximum amount your assessment can increase from one year to the next is 10%. Depending on market factors, your assessed value could increase less than 10% or could decrease.
If you purchase a non-homesteaded property, any 10% assessment cap remains for the balance of the tax year in which the property was purchased. But, Florida law provides that the property must be reassessed at full market value in the year following the sale.
If there is a change of ownership or control not recorded on a deed, it will trigger a reassessment. Per Florida Statute 193.1556, any person or entity owning property under the 10% cap provision MUST notify the property appraiser promptly of any change of ownership or control. Failure to do so may subject the property owner to a lien of back taxes plus interest of 15% per annum and a penalty of 50% of the taxes avoided.
For more information, please call Data Management at 561.355.2890.
me too. total leftist freak. and there’s a few others here and they all conveniently agree with this floater.
since when do we need an injured party?
Some people are saying this was a deliberate Trump action, but if that was really true, why would Trump be complaining that he did not get a jury trial?
I personally suspect that this is yet another screw up by his bimbo attorney Alina Hubba Hubba.
Trump cannot get a fair trial anywhere in these Democrat states.
I guess not in Amerika if you don’t have the right politics.
I wonder just what their game plan is?
The general borrowing population pays too high interest rates or are refused loans because fibbers get unfair rates? Naughty fellows shouldn't be able to borrow $$? ??
Unless you're alleging the lenders relied on purely stated income to qualify Donald Trump (highly unlikely), you're also alleging that he falsified or misrepresented information on both his tax returns and the financial statements used to support income from those tax returns during the loan application process. Because it's the *lender* who determines a borrower's qualifying income, **not the borrower**.
And if the tax transcripts obtained from the IRS match what the tax returns say, what cause is there to assume fraud?
Did Trump lie?
You must be a Meatball guy.
Trump knows the whole thing will get struck down in appellate court.
Voted Republican since Nixon in ‘68.
I’m uncommitted. It’s way too early to worry about it. We’re a half year away from it becoming crunch time.
(As for DeSantis, I’m not too impressed. He’s been stiff and shrill, but he has time to right his ship.)
I’ll vote for whoever wins the nomination.
A lot of of it was dismissed today as the judge agreed that the statute of limitations had passed.
“DeSantis, ... has time to right his ship.”
He betrayed Trump bigly and you can’t un-ring that bell.
Yes apparently 80% of it was dismissed by the appellate court in June. This case is going nowhere.
IIRC, the low assessment also reflected multiple restrictions and agreements to never develop the property and to only use it as a club. These were presumably deals Trump sought in order to minimize his property tax bill.
My belief is that 18 million regardless of it’s use is ridiculously low assessment.
What the property is worth and what it’s assessed at are obviously two different things, the judge would probably say I have only one number to go on and that’s the assessed value.
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