Legal experts skewered Alina Habba’s “comedy of bumbling errors” in Trump defamation trial

Former President Donald Trump’s appeal of the $83.3 million verdict in the defamation case brought by E. Jean Carroll is unlikely to succeed, legal experts say.

“Let me ruin the suspense for everyone. Trump doesn’t have an appeal,” Nashville lawyer Brian Manookian argued Friday. “I know the talking heads on TV who have never tried a case or appealed a jury verdict have to mention it. Here’s why it isn’t going to fly.”

A person must “preserve a reversible error at the trial level” in order to have a case with merit on appeal, Manookian explained, ultimately blaming Trump’s lack thereof on his legal team in the case.

“This is why you hire competent counsel. You need someone who actually knows the rules of evidence and procedure,” he said. “Alina Habba had no clue what was occurring throughout the trial. She not only failed to preserve any remote grounds for appeal, like a moron, she repeatedly and unintentionally waived them over and over.”

    • themeatbridge@lemmy.world
      332·
      10 months ago

      Because it’s funny either way.

      Is she a legitimate attorney who is also a gamer and uses the same laptop for work so she can squeeze in some Rocket League during court recesses?

      Or is she technologically incompetent, and bought an expensive laptop she didn’t realize was the wrong tool for the job? She’s proven she’s incompetent as a lawyer, being unsavvy with tech is just icing on that cake.

      Or maybe it’s her nephew’s gaming rig, and she’s borrowing it for her big court case.

      • coffeebiscuit@lemmy.world
        15·
        10 months ago

        A gaming laptop is very capable for her work. It just doesn’t look professional for said work.

        “360-noscopes” trough the courtroom.

        • ShaggySnacks@lemmy.myserv.oneEnglish
          8·
          10 months ago

          I truly hope the announcer for Unreal Tournament would narrate that.

          “POOR LEGAL ARGUMENT”, “DENIED”, “CONTEMPT OF COURT”. I get shivers thinking of that.

      • Num10ck@lemmy.worldEnglish
        9·
        10 months ago

        its like Joe Pesci’s suit in my cousin vinny. like she had some misadventures in a net cafe.

        • themeatbridge@lemmy.world
          8·
          10 months ago

          I can imagine a panicked conversation at the nearest Walmart, “I was the only one without a laptop, and I need one, and it just needs to be able to handle whatever.”

      • eric@lemmy.world
        41·
        10 months ago

        Is it still funny if it turns out to be the court’s laptop used for the live transcription feed? Because that’s what she claimed on Xitter.

        • HopeOfTheGunblade@kbin.social
          4·
          10 months ago

          Given the rest of the horseshit she’s slung since she got hired away from working parking ticket cases, I’m inclined not to believe this.

          But yes, that would also be quite funny.

    • Clay_pidgin@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      18·
      10 months ago

      I’m sure she just asked IT for the most powerful laptop she could get, and IT just shrugged and got out the corporate card. Or she games in her time off. Who knows, who cares.

    • stoly@lemmy.world
      4·
      10 months ago

      It just doesn’t look professional. You don’t need a big GPU and RGB lights to open a web browser and PDF files.

      • Beemo Dinosaurierfuß@feddit.de
        121·
        10 months ago

        Why though?

        I am sure a proper gaming laptop can do anything a lawyer needs it to do.

        Overspecced and overpriced for its job?
        Probably, but whatever? Noone would have batted an eye if she turned up with an equally expensive Apple product.

        Edit: And I am not arguing that she is an idiot or that I have tremendous Schadenfreude towards both her and Trump.
        I just don’t get why a gaming laptop is a bad thing to use.

        • grue@lemmy.worldEnglish
          13·
          10 months ago

          I just don’t get why a gaming laptop is a bad thing to use.

          RGB lights and tacticool styling are distracting and unprofessional in court, maybe.

        • stoly@lemmy.world
          2·
          10 months ago

          There’s nothing wrong with the laptop itself. But it doesn’t really belong in that context.

        • frezik
          1·
          10 months ago

          Male lawyers still wear carefully tailored business suits even when the rest of the business world has gone more casual. Female lawyers likewise tend to wear a higher level of business attire than typical in other office environments.

          Language is also more formal; I had jury duty once, and the defense lawyer mentioned his client by first name. The judge reminded him that they address people formally by last name in court. (That guy came off like a relatively new lawyer working his way up in the public defender system; Trump would probably be better off hiring him than anybody he’s actually getting, but that guy is also probably smart enough not to.)

          How lawyers present themselves in court and in front of clients is very important. A gaming laptop with unicorn puke RGB is not a good look.