(Washington Times) Eminent law professor Alan Dershowitz accused the judge in the Donald Trump hush-money trial of being a thin-skinned tyrant and excoriated him for a threat that he said would deprive the former president of a fair trial.
In a column Tuesday in the New York Post, Mr. Dershowitz said he was left inside the court the previous day when New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan cleared the court to speak with a defense witness.
“I have never seen a spectacle” like what transpired next, Mr. Dershowitz wrote.
The court had been cleared of spectators and media after attorney Robert Costello, testifying in Mr. Trump’s defense, raised his eyebrows at a ruling by Justice Merchan.
“The court went berserk” in response, the law professor wrote.
“I observed one of the most remarkable wrong-headed biases I have ever seen. The judge actually threatened to strike all of Costello’s testimony if he raised his eyebrows again,” Mr. Dershowitz said.
The law professor, who has argued constitutional cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, called such a move would be obviously unconstitutional “because it would have denied the defendant his Sixth Amendment right to confront witnesses and to raise a defense.”
