Judge Denies Stormy Daniels Motion To Depose Trump And Cohen

[DonViejo]

Source: Talking Points Memo




By Caitlin MacNeal | March 29, 2018 12:56 pm

A California judge on Thursday denied Stormy Daniels’ request to depose President Donald Trump and his longtime personal attorney, Michael Cohen, for her lawsuit arguing that the hush agreement barring her from discussing her alleged relationship with Trump is invalid.

In the ruling, the judge wrote that Daniels’ motion to depose Trump and Cohen was “premature,” suggesting that her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, could refile the motion at a later date. The judge wrote that Daniels cannot seek to depose Trump and Cohen until Cohen files a petition to move the case to arbitration. Lawyers representing Trump and Cohen have said that they will push to move the case to private arbitration, but have not yet submitted the filing. Avenatti said that he will refile his motion to depose Trump and Cohen after they file their petition to move to arbitration.

Link to tweet

Though Avenatti will have to wait to refile the motion to depose Trump and Cohen and to hold a jury trial, he told CNN that the language in the ruling was encouraging. “We’re very, very encouraged by language in the order not just suggesting, but basically finding, that we’re correct in the application of the law and the facts to this matter. This does not bode well for the President or Mr. Cohen, and all indications are that when this motion is heard on the merits, we’re going to get the discovery and we’re going to get the trial we’ve asked for,” he said.

In the ruling, the judge noted that Daniels is allowed to ask for a jury trial, but said that a petition to compel arbitration must come first and that the petition may answer some questions that Daniels seeks to find through discovery.

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Read more: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/judge-denies-stormy-daniels-depose-trump-cohen

[chuckstevens]

1. I'll bet Trump is often "pre-mature."

[magicarpet]

16. You mean.... e..jack....

.... that is only after he gulps down five fists full of Viagra and three fists full of Cialise. Then his nano-seconds encounter can proceed. Don't blink or you'll miss it.

[PJMcK]

19. Thanks a lot

The mental images will haunt me all night.

[madaboutharry]

2. Avenatti probably expected this.

Now the process is clear to everyone. Trump is on notice that if they proceed with trying to force Daniels into arbitration that she can refile her petition.

[SoCalMusicLover]

6. BS

He is SPINNING. Trying to make bad news sound like good news. A loss in court is a Loss in court. I won't be surprised if this case starts to fall apart now, or at the very least, start to drag for months and months.

All the talk about Drumpf's attorneys being dumb and not knowing what they're doing, and obviously that's not the case, since they're winning.

[madaboutharry]

11. Completely disagree with you.

[jberryhill]

13. It is entirely possible, and not unusual

For attorneys on both sides of a lawsuit to mess up.

But you are correct, Avenatti scored an own goal here, not the least of which by his apparent inability to (a) read a rule on page limits, and (b) count the pages in his motion.

Footnote 3 is a good indication of what the court will make of a re-filed motion when Cohen is served.

[SunSeeker]

18. BS. Drimpf's attorneys aren't "winning." This Order shortened their time to respond.

Not every motion denial is a "loss" in the overall strategy of the case. This denial is without prejudice, and he got some good language to boot. It is a win for Stormy/Avenatti.

[jberryhill]

9. Avenatti will have to learn how to read and/or count before he refiles it

Let's put this in perspective here. Avenatti lost this motion without anyone on the other side of the case actually arguing anything.


First this:

The Court notes that the Motion exceeds the page limit set forth in the Court's Initial Standing Order. (See Initial Standing Order ¶ 24, ECF No. 11.) The parties are advised to carefully review the Initial Standing Order and the local rules of this Court.

Translation: "Read the f-ing rules."

And this:

3 The parties are advised that the instant litigation is not the most important matter on the Court's docket. Requests for expedited proceedings, hearings, and discovery not clearly supported by the record and law are discouraged.

Translation: "I don't care how much showboating you do on TV. This Court is not excited over a contract dispute."

Given that Plaintiff has failed to follow certain of the Court's procedural requirements that would trigger a responsive pleading deadline for the defendants, and that such a responsive pleading may answer a number of questions raised by Plaintiff's Motion, the Court declines to prematurely address these issues.

Translation: "Unlike televisions shows, the way we run things here is that (a) we follow the rules, and (b) the other side gets to file its response to your motion.

[PJMcK]

20. Good translation

Thanks for the time you took to read the judge's ruling and share it with us in plain English.

[bucolic_frolic]

3. So might this then stall here

if no motion for arbitration is filed?

But it would also mean from the get-go it was just a lot of noise to try to silence her, and without it, she's free to talk.

[SunSeeker]

14. If no arbitration motion is filed by Cohen, it will simply go to trial.

And discovery will proceed.

[bucolic_frolic]

17. ewwwwwwwww

nasty position to be in!

[SoCalMusicLover]

4. So Much Encouraging News

I can't take all this good news. Who would have thought that losing a ruling would actually be such a positive thing. Watch Avenatti SPIN his brains out on this one.

This is the first step in this case going absolutely nowhere.

[jberryhill]

5. "Who would have thought that losing a ruling would actually be such a positive thing"

Heh. I know, right?

[Hokie]

7. Denied for procedural reasons

Avenatti needs to get his act together. He failed to properly serve all the defendants. Judges expect procedures to be followed. I don't think one can draw any conclusions from this ruling other than Avenatti has some work to do.

[jberryhill]

12. ...without any opposing argument

Judges just love it when you ignore their prior orders:

"The Court notes that the Motion exceeds the page limit set forth in the Court's Initial Standing Order. (See Initial Standing Order ¶ 24, ECF No. 11.) The parties are advised to carefully review the Initial Standing Order and the local rules of this Court."

Avenatti needs a new associate:

[cilla4progress]

8. Avenatti totally knew.

he did this to stay on the offensive.

[hlthe2b]

10. subject line is a bit misleading--denied only for Procedural reasons.. They can refile

[SunSeeker]

15. Agreed. The media doesn't get the procedural vs. merits distinction.

Or they just want a click bait headline...

[Danascot]

21. Damn! That judge has no sense of humor!

It could have been epic.

[mpcamb]

22. can't seek to depose Trump and Cohen until a petition to move the case to arbitration is filed

Didn't Huckabee say it had already been settled by arbitration?
And she never lies...