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May 1 (UPI) -- A federal judge in New York denied a motion for a mistrial Monday by former President Donald Trump's lawyers in E. Jean Carroll's civil battery and defamation lawsuit after Trump's team accused U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan of making numerous "unfair" rulings against him. Kaplan denied the motion Monday morning before the jury was brought in to hear Carroll's testimony, a court official told NBC News.
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In an 18-page letter, Trump's lead attorney Joe Tacopina had cited multiple rulings by Kaplan, which he said prejudiced the jury against the former president, who is accused of raping Carroll, a former Elle columnist, in a Manhattan department store dressing room in the 1990s and harming her reputation by alleging her claims were false.
Tacopina argued that Kaplan repeatedly sustained "improper" objections as he accused the Trump legal team of being "argumentative" and "repetitive" during their cross-examination of Carroll last week.
Tacopina also accused the court of "mischaracterizing evidence," including testimony by Cheryl Beall, who managed the Bergdorf Goodman store where the alleged rape occurred, in which she said she was "certain" the store had surveillance cameras at all of the entrance and exit doors.
Tacopina said Trump's legal team asserts the testimony is false as if it were true Carroll's interactions with Trump upon entering the store would have been captured on video and "would have significantly corroborated her story."
In one portion of the letter, Tacopina said Carroll's testimony that Trump had accused her of being "a Democratic operative" should allow the former president's legal team to raise questions on who is funding her legal efforts during the trial.
The letter also disputed Kaplan's warning that "remedies" beyond the court may be needed in response to tweets made by Trump's son, Eric Trump, during the trial that also questioned the funding of Carroll's legal efforts.
Tacopina wrote that "there was simply nothing wrong with Eric Trump's constitutionally protected free speech in the form of a tweet" noting that the statements were either "factually accurate or pure protected opinion."
Tacopina wrote that the court should "correct the record for each and every instance in which the court has mischaracterized the facts of this case to the jury and allow the defendant's counsel to have greater latitude to cross-examine plaintiff and her witnesses" if a mistrial is not declared.
He claimed these objections "bolstered" Carroll's testimony.
After the motion for a mistrial was denied Monday, Carroll faced more cross-examination as Tacopina tried to discredit claims she was scarred by the assault as he showed the jury receipts totaling $13,000 from 23 shopping trips to Bergdorf Goodman between 2001 and 2018.
"I made that clear that Bergdorf's is not a place that I'm afraid to enter," Carroll testified as she explained why she decided not to call the police after the alleged rape.
"I would never call the police for something I was ashamed of," Carroll said. "I was ashamed of what happened. I thought it was my fault. I would never, never, never go to the police ever," she said.
Last week, Carroll testified that Trump "shattered" her reputation as she revealed why she did not scream for help inside the store.
"I'm not a screamer. I was in a panic, fighting," Carroll testified. "You can't beat up on me for not screaming."
Carroll also described in detail the chance meeting she had with Trump at the New York City department store where she said the real estate mogul raped her.
Trump has denied meeting Carroll and claimed that he does not know who she is. His attorneys last week told the jury Carroll's "story isn't true," saying she could not produce evidence or details including the date the alleged rape occurred.
Carroll filed the lawsuit in November, claiming Trump defamed her in a 2022 Truth Social post when he called her allegations a "hoax and a lie." She added the battery charge after New York passed the Adult Survivors Act, allowing victims to file civil suits beyond the criminal statute of limitations.
