Trump: I should be entitled to a jury like everybody else is entitled to a jury. I have no rights to have a jury. It is ridiculous.
— Acyn (@Acyn) October 4, 2023
(It has been reported that he doesn’t have a jury because his lawyers didn’t ask for one) pic.twitter.com/HDEdn1Xvo7
Former president Donald Trump whined to the press about not getting a jury in his civil trial in New York City against Attorney General Leticia James, even though his own attorney Alina Habba refused to ask for one:
I should be entitled to a jury like everybody else is entitled to a jury. I have no rights to have a jury. It is ridiculous.
CNN notes why Trump did not get a jury trial:
“Under 63 (12), which is what this case is, you don’t have a right, an absolute right to a jury,” Trump lawyer Alina Habba said on Fox News this week.
A Trump spokesperson said that the attorney general “filed this case under a consumer protection statute that denies the right to a jury.”
“There was never an option to choose a jury trial,” the spokesperson said. “It is unfortunate that a jury won’t be able to hear how absurd the merits of this case are and conclude no wrongdoing ever happened.”
Reuters reports Trump has already lost most of the civil trial, which centers around his inflating his property assets in order to get bank loans, and downgrading his assets to get lower insurance rates:
A New York judge found Donald Trump and his family business fraudulently inflated the value of his properties and other assets, in a major defeat for the former U.S. president that could severely hamper his ability to do business in the state.
(Sources: Fox News via Twitter, CNN, Reuters)