Donald Trump indicted by Manhattan grand jury

[BPPLEE]

Looks like they got their chance. See above about Costello's testimony.

Yeah the judge shut him down. Bragg did the same thing to him before the grand jury.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Yeah the judge shut him down. Bragg did the same thing to him before the grand jury.

Sustaining an objection is not shutting him down.
The dude's a lawyer. He should know better than to answer questions where an objection has been sustained.

 

[Hans Blaster]

The 2nd and likely last witness for the Defense made quite the impression today.... (disrepecting a judge won't get you far with a jury):

Defense witness Robert Costello spoke back to Justice Juan Merchan and made disrespectful gestures, prompting the judge to scold him and throw all reporters out of the room in Donald Trump’s hush money trial so that he could have a talk with Costello. Merchan refused to reconsider the highly unusual move of sealing the courtroom in a monumentally important case.

Costello repeatedly spoke over Merchan’s sustained objections, which witnesses sometimes do to have the jury hear what they want to say even if the questions asked are prohibited. In Costello’s case, he continued to do it.

The witness muttered “jeez” loud enough for Merchan to hear from several feet away, and Costello held up a hand in a gesture of frustration. The judge sustained several prosecution objections in a row, handicapping Costello’s ability to answer.
“What did you say?” Merchan said. “What did you say?”
Before Merchan told the people in the gallery to leave the room, the fired-up jurist asked the jury to leave so that he could have a more concentrated talk with Costello.
“I would like to discuss proper decorum in my courtroom,” Merchan said. “So when there is a witness on the stand, if you don’t like my ruling, you don’t say ‘jeez,’ okay? And then don’t say ‘strike it,’ because I am the only one who can strike testimony in the courtroom.”
“If you don’t like my rulings, then you don’t give me side-eye and you don’t roll your eyes,” Merchan continued.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/20/trump-hush-money-trial-live-updates-michael-cohen/#author-box

I think we all know the penalty for contempt in a NY court, Mr. Costello.

 

[BPPLEE]

Sustaining an objection is not shutting him down.
The dude's a lawyer. He should know better than to answer questions where an objection has been sustained.

The prosecution was objecting every 30 seconds, he got frustrated. Among other highlights Cohen admitted that he was stealing from Trump. Great witness

 

[Hans Blaster]

The prosecution was objecting every 30 seconds, he got frustrated. Among other highlights Cohen admitted that he was stealing from Trump. Great witness

I'm not sure if it makes him a great or not great witness, but it certainly doesn't make him a great human being. Cases have been won with more disreputable key prosecution witnesses than Mr. Cohen.

 

[BPPLEE]

I'm not sure if it makes him a great or not great witness, but it certainly doesn't make him a great human being. Cases have been won with more disreputable key prosecution witnesses than Mr. Cohen.

He was asked if he lied under oath for personal gain and he admitted he did. How can you take anything he says seriously?

 

[Hans Blaster]

He was asked if he lied under oath for personal gain and he admitted he did. How can you take anything he says seriously?

I thought your post was about the theft.

 

[BPPLEE]

I thought your post was about the theft.

Cohen's bombshell admission could lead to hung jury, if not acquittal: expert

Michael Cohen, Trump's former attorney, further damaged his credibility in court when he admitted to stealing thousands from the Trump Organization.

www.foxnews.com

 

[wing2000]

Sustaining an objection is not shutting him down.
The dude's a lawyer. He should know better than to answer questions where an objection has been sustained.

.....I don't see his behavior sitting well with the jury at all.

We'll find out soon enough...possibly as early as next week. The judge plans to have closing arguments on Tuesday after the holiday weekend.

 

[wing2000]

OTH, Costello's antics will play well in the MAGA media. We'll see if Trump can constrain himself for an entire week without attacking the jury.

 

[Hans Blaster]

Cohen's bombshell admission could lead to hung jury, if not acquittal: expert

Michael Cohen, Trump's former attorney, further damaged his credibility in court when he admitted to stealing thousands from the Trump Organization.

www.foxnews.com

How does admitting to committing a crime (theft) make Cohen seem less credible? (This theft was already known.

 

[BPPLEE]

How does admitting to committing a crime (theft) make Cohen seem less credible? (This theft was already known.

His story has always been how he was enamored with and loyal to Trump, that’s why he broke the law, then he came to hate him when he went to jail. If he was stealing from him (at the time he was supposedly loyal) it blows a hole in that story .

 

[BPPLEE]

OTH, Costello's antics will play well in the MAGA media. We'll see if Trump can constrain himself for an entire week without attacking the jury.

Judge Juan Merchan said that allowing a Federal Election Commission (FEC) expert to testify on the additional subjects that Donald Trump's lawyers are seeking would lead to a "battle of the experts," which would "only confuse and not assist" the jury.

"The jury would hear legal instructions from three different people. As Mr. Bove eluded to there is no question this would result in a battle of the experts and would only serve to confuse and not assist he jury," the judge said.

So they can’t hear an expert testify that this was not a campaign finance violation and someone else say that it was.

 

[Hans Blaster]

His story has always been how he was enamored with and loyal to Trump, that’s why he broke the law, then he came to hate him when he went to jail. If he was stealing from him (at the time he was supposedly loyal) it blows a hole in that story .

I really don't see how this would affect the jury's opinion of Cohen. He's a sleazebag (disbarred) ex-lawyer who did another sleazy thing. I mean, the whole thing with this payment involved paying an online service company to manipulate an online poll Trump wanted to win. As I understand it, Cohen talked down the sleazy company he hired from the original price ($50k) and when he went to get reimbursed (after a year or more of delay) requested the original amount. The whole thing is just a long series of slimy things -- online poll manipulation, cash payments, inflated repayment, and then the falsification of records to mark it down as a salary payment. I look forward to having all of this slime out of my life for good.

 

[Pommer]

The prosecution was objecting every 30 seconds, he got frustrated. Among other highlights Cohen admitted that he was stealing from Trump. Great witness

Didn’t you see Casino?, people helping you to steal, will steal from you, too.

 

[Pommer]

I'm not sure if it makes him a great or not great witness, but it certainly doesn't make him a great human being. Cases have been won with more disreputable key prosecution witnesses than Mr. Cohen.

Cato Cohen?
uh-oh!

 

[Pommer]

He was asked if he lied under oath for personal gain and he admitted he did. How can you take anything he says seriously?

This used to be called “turning-state’s-evidence“ in the gangster movies of the last century.
A despicable person “sees the light” and does the “right thing” in the end, and tells the truth!

But that’s just fiction, that’s not “real life”.

 

[BPPLEE]

This used to be called “turning-state’s-evidence“ in the gangster movies of the last century.
A despicable person “sees the light” and does the “right thing” in the end, and tells the truth!

But that’s just fiction, that’s not “real life”.

I have to admit I used some pretty bad people to testify against worse people

 

[perplexed]

“Donald Trump Testifies!”
How do you see that “playing-out”?

I think he would makes thing much worse for himself by denying some established facts, However I was aksing

BPPLEE​

 

[Pommer]

I think he would makes thing much worse for himself by denying some established facts, However I was aksing

BPPLEE​

Oh, maybe you should have queried them privately if you only wanted to get an answer from them?