Live-Drawing The Last Day Of The Carroll V Trump Civil Rape Trial

Closing arguments, and now it’s in the jury’s hands

Before being allowed into the Manhattan Courthouse where the Carroll v Trump Civil Rape trial is being held, you have to go through extensive security. I arrived yesterday for the final day of closing arguments to find an extremely long line at the security scanners. As we wound our way through the line, I spotted Ms. Carroll, standing in line.

Once in the room where the trial is held, I saw one of the courtroom artists facing backwards, and at first thought nothing of it. Trying to understand what was going on, I then looked to see what she was sketching: Ms. Carroll was seated at the back of the room. Usually, she is seated with her team, but it became clear that the trial had not started just yet: Judge Kaplan was discussing with the lawyers something to do with admitting parts of a Law and Order SVU episode.

I will share some of my sketches and notes, and encourage you to read about the trial from another source. I take these notes for myself to perhaps use in this article, but also to give you a flavor of being there.

The attorney for the plaintiff, Ms. Kaplan (no relation to the judge), went first with her closing argument.

A rather calm appearing person, Ms. Kaplan methodically laid out the case, giving the jury a detailed synopsis of her charge that Donald Trump raped and defamed E. Jean Carroll.

As I listened, I kept looking around the gallery. It was a packed house.

Much of what was presented was difficult to hear again.

Then Judge Kaplan gave us all a very short lunch break. Instead of going out for any food, I watched journalists frantically making notes, writing their stories in notepads, since no electronics are allowed in the courtroom. These two below were from the UK and Germany. The UK journalist told me he had to leave early to file his report for The Guardian by 1:30pm.

This woman below I think is from the NY Times — for some reason, I recognized her but could not place her. Maybe she’ll see this article and write me.

When not scrambling to pull together thoughts and sentences (and in my case, pencil sketches), those of us on the journalist side of the room sometimes chat about the trial and the weather. We ask each other questions about rulings, procedure, protocol. Since this is my first trial, I often had questions for my fellow journalists. I think I’ve said this before, but I really enjoyed meeting and talking to some of the writers I met on this side of the gallery.

After lunch, it was Mr. Tacopina’s turn to present Trump’s defense. An imposing presence, he was animated, appeared almost agitated at times. He pounded the podium, and on more than one occasion spoke so fast that his words were hard to distinguish. Mr. Tacopina and the Judge Kaplan exchanged tense words after an objection, and the judge said (I’m paraphrasing), “In the tradition of the bar, we three will go have a drink.”

After two hours from the defense in closing argument from Mr. Tacopina, we heard a rebuttal from the plaintiff’s side. This time from another one of Carroll’s attorneys, Mr. Ferrara. A slender man, he and Tacopina made for an interesting contrast.

I watched Judge Kaplan throughout. Over the course of the trial, he would show interest, but then also appear to be reading stuff on his three computers, or taking pieces of paper from his clerk. Today, he almost exclusively listened and watched the attorneys present their cases.

Every now and then he would speak, usually to clear up an objection from the plantiff’s side towards a statement from the defense. This judge seemed to enjoy using humor, and at one point told a long story intended to be humorous, that I didn’t really understand.

As I listened, I drew more around the courtroom.

The case has now gone to the jury, it is in their hands. It is diffult to know how they will decide.

I hope this, along with my previous posts on this important trial, have given you a sense of what it was like to be there.