What happened in Trump’s civil fraud case (real estate case) (NY & FL) was that Trump was denied a jury because the case was brought under consumer fraud which is a technique of circumventing a jury (where a judge has no power over the traffic) and thus judge Engoron had full hands on deck of being the sole arbiter of the outcome. But it should have been brought under the Commercial Division but it didn’t. Otherwise the case would have had a judge with specialized knowledge in commercial cases. trump was dealt judge Engoron who serves on the NY Supreme Court. Make note of the fact this is not the highest court in the state … which is the Court of Appeals.
Tom Ellsworth made a great comparison. He suggested: “Let’s say you are concerned for a cousin. And you go into Family Court because you want there to be there to represent the person. And they say … hey you know what teh family court judge is out sick today, bur judge Harris from Traffic court is going to come in and hear the case.” Everyone would not accept this. But Trump had to undergo a similar situation.
When people read or watch the almost daily hyperbolic speak about Donald J. Trump, speak normally containing many personal pronouns and judgemental allegations where the idea of presumption of innocence withered away because people are not prepared to give water to this clause presumption of innocence in the fifth amendment.
That is all part of the game right? No, it is not and it might expose a proposition how deep the interloper’s allied-thinking toward reasoning-for-a-consequential-wished-outcome might be.
I cannot imagine how many people would put their hand up if asked would you be in favor of taking away Trump’s rights to defend himself, burn down what he owns and imprison him for many years.
Judges
Alas, apparently the widespread animus against Trump under mostly democrats reveals itself also in the courtroom when judges make decisions jeopardizing the credibility of the justice system as a whole. Judges have different mechanisms to have a greater say in the outcome of a trial case.
Civil law versus criminal law
In civil law a judge seems to have more keys to play with on the judge’s piano if you will.
Alina Habba (lead attorney for Trump) stated the following facts in the inflating the value of Trump’s business and the market value of his real estate holdings in New York state and in Florida case:
- the appellate division reduced the bond of 464 million to 175 million for civil fraud judgment
- the appellate division is not enforcing the decision that the defendants are not allowed to work anymore in NY state in real estate
- AD is not enforcing the decision against former Trump CFO Weisselberg
And Habba claimed a number of occurances which will lift reasonable people’s eyebrows :
- Judge Engoron waited for the Carroll case’s verdict to come out and then supposedly sentenced the verdict on the real estate civil case
- The Attorney General of NY (James) according to Habba increased the penal amount from $250 to a much higher $375 m amount without any reasoning and judge Engoron gave James what she asked for
- no consideration for facts, witnesses or law was allowed
Things Alina Habba said where she might be less neutral:
- she goes off about the incomprehensible appraisal of Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s estate in Palm Beach, florida. Habba states that the judge supposedly valued the estate for a diminutive $18 m whereas judge Engoron said he attributed it to the 2011 value determined by the Palm Beach County property appraiser.
Mar-a-Lago’s county appraisal takes into account the deed restriction
Mar-a-Lago is not valued by the county as if it were a luxury home because it is a private club. Trump in 1995 signed a deed of conservation and preservation easement, which means he ceded the right to use the property for anything other than a social club.
That means the property appraiser uses an income-based valuation for the property, Becky Robinson, a spokesperson for the property appraiser, told PolitiFact.
“Mar-a-Lago is one of nine deed-restricted clubs in Palm Beach County, and all are valued in the same manner,” Robinson said. “The income approach to valuation capitalizes the net operating income that private clubs could generate. This means that the value of the property is determined based on the amount of income that it generates as a club.”
That’s different from determining the value of a house, when appraisers consider recent sales of nearby homes, and determine a comparable value.
The county appraiser is a government office that assesses properties for taxation purposes only.
- why Leatitia James supposedly visited the White House before and after the complaint was filed according to WH logs Habba claims is at best not reported
- Habba claims that Trumps civil fraud case should have been brought under the Commercial Division under the CPLR6312 … it went to the Supreme Court (Not highest)
- Habba claims under a Examination Under Oath (EUO) Trump’s lawyer cannot interject the opposing party and this had been the case for a long time
E. Jean Carroll case (Alina Habba was Trump’s attorney too)
- verdict 2023 – Trump ordered to pay $5 million (sexual assault -not liable for rape- and defamation)
- verdict january 2024 – Trump ordered to pay an additional $83.3 million (defamation)
- how bonds according to Habba work in NY state is there is A) a verdict with an amount attached to it which the defendant can pay a bond for when appealing a case which B) the bond is increased with a 10 percent increase and C) with interest over the bond and D) possible other fees on top of a, b and c
- why the judge asked Alina Habba before her client took the stand what questions she would ask and which answers he’d give in public and with media present is not acceptable conduct
- Habba was not allowed to present a powerpoint presentation where Carroll tweeted and first received hate from various trolls before after five hours interacts with the tweet; Carroll claimed Trump defamed Carroll; the judge didn’t allow the evidence, therefore omitting it from the jury