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Anyone can be falsely accused of a crime. Defense depends on the right to a fair trial.
Unfortunately, the Manhattan trial of former President Donald Trump bears no resemblance to that precious constitutional promise. There is little about this five-week trial period that can be described as even remotely fair.
District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s outrageous case made a mockery of our legal system. Judge Juan Merchan further deepened the injustice by dismantling the principles of due process to which all defendants are entitled. His rulings in court have consistently favored prosecutors and barred Trump’s lawyers from presenting good faith defenses that would be admissible in other courts.
Trump touted his ‘victory’ in the Manhattan case as his defense team asked Merchant to dismiss it.
Working together, Bragg and Merchan demonstrated little respect for the rule of law or the rights of the accused. This is not a fair trial. It is an Orwellian show trial with a predetermined outcome. There is no presumption of innocence, only guilt.
The impact of this case goes far beyond the verdict, whatever it may be. Our judiciary, a once respected institution, has suffered immeasurable damage. The prosecutor’s corrupt behavior and the judge’s obvious bias constitute moral flaws that will inevitably lead to cynicism toward democratic government.
District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s outrageous case made a mockery of our legal system. Judge Juan Merchan further deepened the injustice by dismantling the principles of due process to which all defendants are entitled.
Merchan’s anti-Trump bias is particularly insidious. This was on full display when the defense called Robert Costello, who once served as the attorney for the DA’s star witness Michael Cohen, to the stand. Remember, the judge gave Cohen and another prosecution witness, former porn star Stormy Daniels, unfettered freedom to trash Trump in court. Merchan eagerly welcomed outrageous and sordid details and ranking speculations intended to prejudice the jury.
But when Costello took oath and began accurately portraying his former client as a fraudster who lied to the jury on key issues in the case, the judge shut him down in New York faster than a minute later. While Cohen and Daniels were given the freedom to criticize Trump with endless stories, Costello was silenced by a judge who only put a sock in his mouth.
Cohen’s bombshell could result in a hung jury if it doesn’t result in a not guilty verdict: Expert
In one infamous moment, Merchan was so distraught that he threatened to jail a witness for putting him in the wrong light. “Are you looking down at me now?” The self-centered judge got angry. It was so melodramatic that even an ordinary gangster would blush with embarrassment.
Without limitation, Cohen has been given authority by judges to misinterpret federal election laws about which he has no knowledge or expertise. He repeatedly told the jury that the payments to Daniels violated the law. But Merchan did not allow the defense to call a qualified expert (a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission) to adequately explain to the jury the true meaning of election law and how Daniel’s non-disclosure agreement did not qualify as an illegal campaign contribution.
Apparently Merchan never bothered to read New York’s Rules of Evidence (Rule 7.01). experts can do it ~ no They are prohibited from giving opinions on the ultimate issues of the case if they are beyond the jury’s knowledge and would be helpful to them. Here, the laws related to election finance are so complex and complex that they are difficult to understand.
Without expert testimony, jurors are left to make uninformed guesses. This is exactly what Bragg and Merchan hope.
NY V TRUMP: Michael Cohen admits to stealing tens of thousands of dollars from former president’s business.
Throughout the trial, the judge allowed prosecutors to cover up so-called “mystery crimes” that escalated past-due misdemeanors to felonies. Well, the trial is now over, both sides have concluded their cases, and closing arguments are scheduled to begin next Tuesday. But we are no closer to understanding what the fundamental crime Trump committed was. It is a comedy.
The jury was exposed to numerous lies and deception by District Attorney Alvin Bragg, which was approved by Judge Juan Merchan. Together, they trampled on the rights of the accused through false tyranny and uncheckable power.
No competent and fair judge would have permitted such a serious violation of the Sixth Amendment. Every defendant has the fundamental right to be “informed of the nature and cause of the charges” against him. But Bragg never complied with the constitutional guarantees. Worse, they let him do just that, allowing Merchan to misuse local courts to enforce federal laws over which he had no power or jurisdiction.
All of this is consistent with the judge brazenly violating Trump’s free speech rights by preventing him from commenting on Cohen, with the latter criticizing the defendant on social media while the trial was underway. Trump was gagged, but Cohen was not. Try to understand it. You can’t.
Merchan tolerated neither objectivity nor sanctioning fairness in his fiefdom. The concept of a level playing field has been relegated to a bad joke. Instead, Bragg and Merchan conspired to poison the trial by indoctrinating the jury with false information and fake testimony. Each time they attempted to brainwash the panel into believing criminal activity was going on despite evidence to the contrary.
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In fact, the prosecution failed to meet any of the key elements of the alleged crime. There is no credible evidence that Trump designed or even knew about the accountant’s reservation entries, which were not entirely false. There is no plausible evidence of a willful violation of election law, which was not a violation at all. Where is the fraud that the prosecution claimed in their statements? Like Bigfoot, it’s the hypothetical missing link in the case.
This has always been a trial looking for imaginary crimes and shameful pretensions.
This case has reasonable doubt written all over it. But the jury was exposed to numerous lies and deception by District Attorney Alvin Bragg, which was approved by Judge Juan Merchan. Together, they trampled on the rights of the accused through false tyranny and uncheckable power.
This is what American statesman Senator J. William Fulbright memorably warned when he said: “Scandals and suspicions make our democratic society angry and our democracy embarrassed,” he said.
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Fulbright was not visionary. He knew from experience that unscrupulous people with ruthless power were capable of uncommon acts of corruption. Only strength of character can withstand temptation.
Incorruptibility is rare, but sadly lacking in this Manhattan courtroom.
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