In a recent development in the ongoing legal battle between former U.S. President Donald Trump and writer E. Jean Carroll, a federal judge has rejected Trump’s attempt to introduce a new expert witness, asserting that Trump “made his own bed” by delaying the request until just two months before the scheduled trial on January 16, 2024.
Trump had argued that not having a new damages expert would cause him “extreme prejudice” in the defamation trial filed by Carroll, who is seeking at least $10 million over Trump’s comments in June 2019. These comments were made in response to Carroll’s public accusation that Trump raped her in a Manhattan department store dressing room in the mid-1990s.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, overseeing the case, dismissed Trump’s request, emphasizing that both sides were obligated to propose expert witnesses a year ago. Kaplan noted that Trump had been aware since March that his initial expert’s testimony would likely be excluded, a fact that should have prompted earlier action.
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“Although Mr. Trump states that he is ‘not asking to extend or delay the start of the trial,’ there is a strong likelihood — given his past actions in these cases — that he would do so if his application were granted,” Kaplan wrote.
The judge also pointed out that Trump was on notice for months about the unreliability of his chosen expert, who would not testify. Kaplan emphasized that Trump had failed to take any corrective action despite being aware of these issues.
“He has made his own bed and now must lie in it,” Kaplan concluded.
Trump’s legal team is currently defending him against civil fraud claims related to his family business, the Trump Organization, brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James. The defense team did not immediately respond to requests for comments on the judge’s decision.
Carroll, a former Elle magazine columnist, had previously secured a $5 million judgment against Trump in May in a separate lawsuit, where a jury found him liable for sexual assault and defamation. Trump is currently appealing that decision.
The case is officially known as Carroll v. Trump, filed in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, under the docket number 20-07311.
