Judge Resigns from Trump’s Central Park Five Defamation Case – IJR

A federal judge recused himself Friday from presiding over the exonerated Central Park Five’s defamation lawsuit against President-elect Trump.

U.S. District Judge Michael Baylson, appointed by former President George W. Bush, recused himself from the case after it was revealed that he had a long-standing friendship with the group’s lead attorney, Shanin Specter, who also previously represented him and his wife. legal problems, based on To The Hill. The case will be assigned to another judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. case was originally filed.

Trump’s legal team has defended Baylson’s withdrawal from the case, citing concerns that might arise about his impartiality in the eyes of a reasonable observer. The plaintiffs agreed with the motion to dismiss, The Hill reported. The defamation claim against Trump stems from his statements during last September’s presidential debate claiming that the Central Park Five confessed to and were responsible for a murder.

The case is part of a long-running feud between Trump and five men wrongfully convicted of raping and assaulting a jogger in New York City’s Central Park in 1989. case It featured investment banker Trisha Meili going for a run in Central Park around 9 p.m.

A group of young men attacked her and dragged her into the forest, where they stripped her, beat her with a pipe and brick, raped her, and left her for dead. His injuries were so severe that the district attorney’s office initially ruled the incident a homicide because doctors did not expect him to survive the night.

Of the 37 teens questioned about the violence at the park that evening, 10 faced charges, and only five were charged in connection with the rape: Antron McCray, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson and Korey Wise. In 2018, New York City released thousands of documents related to the 1989 Central Park rape case.

Even though they were in prison for years convictions It was overturned in 2002 after the real perpetrator’s confession, backed by DNA evidence, according to The Hill. The lawsuit is still in the preliminary stages, and Trump’s campaign has dismissed it as unsubstantiated, calling it a tactic of “left-wing activists.”

Throughout the campaign, members of the Central Park Five actively opposed Trump, including attending the Democratic National Convention and other campaign-related events. Salaam, who is currently a member of the New York City Council, also supported Vice President Kamala Harris in the boardroom following a debate in September.

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.

(Featured Image Media Credit: Screen Capture/CSPAN)