Alan Dershowitz predicts no chance Trump will get an acquittal in New York
Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz discusses how former President Donald Trump's arraignment ushers in a dark era for Americas justice system on 'Hannity.'
Famed attorney Alan Dershowitz warned Wednesday that former President Donald Trump has "no chance" of getting acquitted in liberal New York City in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's unprecedented legal case.
"There's no way he can get a fair trial," he told Fox News' Sean Hannity. "I don't care if Jesus, Muhammad, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington and Thurgood Marshall defended Trump in New York, he wouldn't win this case. Hung jury? Maybe. Acquittal? Never."
Dershowitz's comments came on the heels of Trump's Tuesday arraignment where he pled not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records linked to 2016 hush-money payments.
Former President Donald Trump arrives in New York on Monday for his expected booking and arraignment the following day on charges arising from hush money payments during his 2016 campaign. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Earlier in the "Hannity" segment, Dershowitz elaborated on his belief that Trump faces an uphill battle.
"It reminds me of when I was a civil rights person in the South… even if you didn't spit on the sidewalk, if the sheriff said you spit on the sidewalk and charged you with it, there's no chance you could get acquitted by an all-White Jim Crow jury," he said.
"Everybody knew that. You were innocent, but everyone knew you were going to be convicted," he continued.
Though Dershowitz said he didn't want to draw comparisons between the Jim Crow South and New York City, he explained that finding 12 jurors with an objective view in the Big Apple is next to impossible.
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Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg speaks at a press conference to discuss the charges against Steve Bannon in New York on Sept. 8, 2022. (ALEX KENT/AFP via Getty Images)
"[They] don't want to walk around town and have people say ‘That’s the juror who freed Donald Trump and allowed him to be president,'" he added.
The judge in Trump's case, Dershowitz alleged, holds a similar view, refusing to transfer the trial out of Manhattan to a fairer venue out of fear that he could be similarly chastised.
Trump's supporters have raised similar concerns that pulling a jury pool from the Manhattan borough — an area that voted overwhelmingly for President Biden in the 2020 election — could signal an unfair advantage for the prosecution.
They also claimed moving the trial to nearby Staten Island would be a fairer approach.
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Pro- and anti-Trump supporters face off during a protest outside of Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City on Tuesday. (ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)
"Any decent judge would change the venue immediately, but this judge won't do that," Dershowitz said. "Any decent judge would throw the case out on the statute of limitations. This judge won't do it. He doesn't want to ruin his career… Remember, judges in New York are elected."
Dershowitz also dismissed other pending litigation aimed at Trump, including in Fulton County, Georgia, and Washington, D.C. — both places where his legal woes could continue.
"Federal judges are more likely to rule in his favor because they have lifetime appointments," he explained. "I don't think a state court judge has the courage. I don't think state court jurors have the courage [to acquit him]."
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