Trump Wants Central Park 5 Defamation Cases Dismissed

President-elect Donald Trump asked the judge to: dismissal of defamation case A lawsuit was filed against him by the Central Park Five, claiming that it was “legally inadequate and worthless”.

“Plaintiffs’ attempt to use the courts to silence political speech is preempted by Pennsylvania’s strong protections for free speech,” Trump’s legal team wrote in a letter to Judge Wendy Beetlestone on Tuesday. “Pennsylvania’s anti-SLAPP statute provides immunity for ‘protected public expression’ on matters of public concern, including statements made during a political debate, and protects defendants from frivolous lawsuits designed to chill free speech.”

The update comes a month after the Acquitted Five (Yusuf Salaam, Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson, Antron Brown (formerly Antron McCray) and Korey Wise) filed a lawsuit against Trump. He made a false statement during the debate in September Against Vice President Kamala Harris, she said the men initially pleaded guilty in the 1989 assault and rape case, rather than merely admitting guilt during police interrogation.

“His technical misuse of the legal terminology ‘pleads guilty’ does not render the statement substantially false, especially when the impact on casual listeners would be the same as the truth (in which Plaintiffs ‘pleaded’ to guilt),” Trump said. the lawyers wrote in the letter. “Small inaccuracies in terminology
It constitutes an insult.”

“President-elect Trump also emphasized that his views reflected widespread public sentiment of the time and contextualized his comments as part of a broader discussion on crime and justice,” they continued. “No reasonable listener would interpret these statements as a new assertion that Plaintiffs are guilty of the Central Park crimes, especially since President-Elect Trump acknowledged during the debate that Plaintiffs were ultimately exonerated.”

Trump’s team also insisted that his “comments during the debate contextualized Trump’s actions in 1989 and were based on Plaintiffs’ own admissions at the time without misrepresenting material facts.”

The former “Celebrity Apprentice” host took out a full-page ad in four New York City newspapers in May 1989, calling for the return of the death penalty. After the Central Park attack and has refused to apologize ever since, including for the 2024 debate in question. New York City settled a $41 million civil rights lawsuit against five men in 2014.

The formal request also comes just days after the original judge, Judge Michael M. Baylson, filed for removal because of his relationship with the Exonerated Five’s legal counsel. This application took place last Thursday, and he was replaced by Judge Beetlestone on Monday.

If the case is not dismissed, the Acquitted Five are seeking more than $75,000 in compensatory and punitive damages from Trump, in addition to a jury trial.