Former President Donald Trump may have “prejudiced the jury against himself” during Stormy Daniels’ testimony at his New York hush money trial on Tuesday, according to a legal expert. Joyce Vance, a former district attorney for the northern district of Alabama, noted on her Substack blog that Trump’s behavior during Daniels’ testimony could have negatively impacted the jury’s perception of him.
The revelations came after court transcripts showed that presiding judge Juan Merchan spoke to Trump’s legal team due to Trump’s audible cursing during Daniels’ testimony. Trump is facing 34 counts of falsifying business records, allegedly related to paying $130,000 to former pornographic actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election to buy her silence about an alleged affair with Trump in 2006. Trump denies these allegations and has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
During Daniels’ testimony, she described the events she claimed took place with Trump in 2006, leading Trump’s legal team to call for a retrial, arguing that her testimony was “so unduly prejudicial to Trump.” However, Judge Merchan denied the mistrial motion, acknowledging that some aspects of the testimony “would have been better left unsaid.”
According to the court transcript, Merchan addressed Trump’s attorney after Trump cursed audibly and shook his head during Daniels’ testimony. The judge reportedly said: “I understand that your client is upset at this point, but he is cursing audibly, and he is shaking his head visually, and that’s contemptuous.” Merchan urged Trump’s attorney to speak to him about his behavior, saying he would not tolerate such conduct in court.
Joyce Vance pointed out that Trump’s behavior, witnessed by the jury, might have influenced their opinion of him. She wrote: “Judge Merchan also commented that Trump was going on in full view of the jury. There is no doubt they took note. While Trump’s lawyers claimed Stormy Daniels’ testimony went too far and asked for a mistrial, which the Judge denied, if anything prejudiced the jury against him yesterday, it was Trump’s own behavior.”
David Ring, a senior litigation lawyer from Los Angeles, commented on the challenge faced by Trump’s defense team. Ring noted that the graphic nature of Daniels’ testimony put Trump’s legal team in a difficult position. They attempted to block much of her testimony before she took the stand, but Judge Merchan overruled their objections.
