Trump’s Civil Trial Has No Jury Because ‘Nobody Asked’ for One, Judge Explains

Donald Trump has attacked the New York State Supreme Court judge presiding over his $250 million civil fraud trial as a Democratic “politician” on a quest to financially ruin him.

"I think it's very unfair I don't have a jury," Trump complained at a makeshift press conference outside the courtroom.

But the judge on Monday suggested that it may have been the former president's fault that the case is being tried without a jury.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron noted that “nobody asked for” a jury trial.

It's unclear whether a jury trial would have been available under New York Executive Law 63(12), the statute under which the case was brought, and may legal experts believe it likely would not have been. Trump's spokesperson emphasized this point in a statement.

"The Attorney General filed this case under a consumer protection statute that denies the right to a jury," the spokesperson told The Messenger. "It is unfortunate that a jury won't be able to hear how absurd the merits of this case are and conclude no wrongdoing ever happened."

But the judge's remark highlights that neither side sought to litigate the issue.

Earlier this year, New York Attorney Letitia James filed a form with a checkmark next to the field: “Trial without a jury.” Trump’s legal team didn’t file a corresponding form, and the former president may have regretted that inaction ever since.

Long before the trial, Engoron found Trump in contempt of court for discovery violations in the investigation that preceded the AG’s lawsuit. Last week, the judge found Trump, his family members and his business associates liable for a massive fraud and ordered the dissolution of Trump’s New York business empire, an action known as the “corporate death penalty.”

Trump lashed out against him extensively at a makeshift press conference outside the courtroom, calling for Engoron to be “investigated for what he's done is undervaluing these properties.”

Former US President Donald Trump (L) sits with his attorneys inside the courtroom during his civil fraud case brought by state Attorney General Letitia James, at a Manhattan courthouse, in New York City, on October 2, 2023. BRENDAN MCDERMID/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Minutes before entering the courtroom, the former president posted an all-caps tirade against “ROGUE, OUT OF CONTROL, TRUMP HATING JUDGE” on his platform Truth Social.

Trump habitually attacks the judges who rule against him, filing failed motions to recuse the judges presiding over his federal election-interference case and his hush-money prosecution in New York.

Former U.S. Attorney Harry Litman, now the host of the Talking Feds podcast, said that Trump’s legal team has only itself to blame for the bench trial.

Engoron will decide whether to issue an order disgorging hundreds of millions of dollars in allegedly ill-gotten gains — and barring him from ever serving as a director of a New York corporation.