Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images; Brittainy Newman/AP
- Trump's lawyer Joseph Tacopina requested a mistrial in the E. Jean Carroll rape case.
- The request accused the court of acting in "pervasive unfair and prejudicial rulings.
- Judge Lewis A. Kaplan denied the request Monday afternoon.
Former President Donald Trump's lawyer Joseph Tacopina requested a mistrial in the E. Jean Carroll rape case, accusing the judge of acting unfairly in favor of Carroll.
The request, submitted on Monday morning, says a mistrial should be granted "based upon pervasive unfair and prejudicial rulings by the Court" and makes accusations that the court "mischaracterized the evidence in favor" of Carroll and against the former US president.
Federal judge Lewis A. Kaplan denied Tacopina's application for mistrial on Monday afternoon.
A spokesperson for Carroll's lawyers declined to comment on Tacopina's mistrial motion when contacted by Insider.
Tacopina's request alleged that the court has "bolstered the testimony" of Carroll and allowed her to avoid clarifying information about surveillance cameras.
It also alleged that the number of attorneys at Carroll's table and the testimony of Natasha Stoynoff, who previously made a sexual misconduct allegation against Trump, have added to the court's bias.
Tacopina's request comes during ongoing testimony from Carroll in her civil trial against Trump, which is happening in Manhattan federal court. She has accused him of raping her in a Bergdorf Goodman's department store dressing room in the mid-1990s and defaming her when he called her a liar after she went public with her allegations in 2019.