'Awful day for the defense': Atty says Trump lawyers 'struck out' with Costello testimony

21 May 2024

The defense has rested its case in former President Donald Trump's criminal trial. And according to one defense attorney who watched the case, Trump's side didn't do itself any favors in calling its second and final witness to the stand.

During a Tuesday segment on CNN, criminal defense lawyer David Oscar Markus opined that the ex-president's lawyers "took a big risk" and "struck out very badly" by having attorney Robert Costello testify. Attorneys Todd Blanche and Susan Necheles called Costello in an attempt to discredit the testimony of Trump's former personal attorney and fixer Michael Cohen. But according to Markus, the defense effectively undermined their own case.

"[I]t should have been a positive day for the defense ending with this terrible witness, Michael Cohen. And now it was just an awful day for the defense," Markus said. "It's just terrible the way it went down."

"The weird thing is Costello knows better, right? He's a lawyer, he's been in that courtroom and that courthouse. He knows better," Markus added. "So just an awful, awful day."

During Costello's testimony, Judge Juan Merchan admonished him over his conduct on the witness stand after clearing the jury from the courtroom. Costello reportedly had several outbursts when his testimony was interrupted, and at one point even shot Judge Merchan a disapproving look, which prompted the judge to threaten to strike his entire testimony from the record.

"Twice now the judge has sustained an objection and Costello answered regardless," CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins said Monday, describing the scene. "Judge Merchan addresses him directly to not answer if he’s sustained the objection. ‘Jesus,’ Costello mutters after it happens again. ‘I’m sorry,’ the judge, visibly annoyed, says to him. ‘I’m sorry?'"

Merchan then said he wanted to discuss "proper decorum" in his courtroom, and told Costello that "if you don’t like my ruling, you don’t give me side eye and you don’t roll your eyes." He then asked Costello directly, "are you staring me down right now?"

"I get why they're frustrated. they've been limited in what they can do," Markus said of Trump's attorneys. "The judges, the public, the media typically are always against the defense, the defense just can't show it. They have to stand strong."

"You cannot let it affect you in court. You cannot show any problems," he continued. "The jury sees that and you saw them look at each other. That is really, really bad. And anybody is going to tell you that although you don't know what a jury is going to do when you see things like that, you cannot feel good as a defense lawyer."

Watch Markus' segment below, or by clicking this link.

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