Attorney Alan Dershowitz said on Newsmax Friday that the Central Park Five may come to regret filing a defamation lawsuit against President Donald Trump, calling the case both legally tenuous and politically risky for the plaintiffs.
A federal judge refused to dismiss a defamation lawsuit against Trump filed by the exonerated Central Park Five over his past public remarks. Appearing on “The Record With Greta Van Susteren,” Dershowitz said that the Central Park Five men were not completely innocent and that new scrutiny could expose details they’d rather keep buried.
“This is going to be a very hard case for the plaintiffs to win. They were not innocent people. They were doing things in the park that certainly were not commendable, at least some of them were,” Dershowitz said. “They did not admit their guilt. But it’s a much more complicated, nuanced case. And I think they will regret having brought it. Because if this case actually goes to trial, we’re going to get depositions that show exactly what they did and where they were every minute of time.”
With some of the plaintiffs now pursuing political careers, Dershowitz warned the case could expose uncomfortable truths.
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“These are all people now with political ambitions. They’re running for office. They’re presenting themselves as the most wonderful people on the face of the earth. They were not. And so the more we dig into this case, the more we’re going to see this as a case of gray area,” Dershowitz said. “And the big issue is going to be if they are public figures, if the plaintiffs are public figures and have to demonstrate that they were not only falsely accused, but they were falsely accused with reckless disregard of the truth. It’s not going to be so easy.”
While Dershowitz said the case might ultimately settle, he also said that a full trial could serve the public interest.
“My feeling is probably, in the end, the case will settle, but the public would be served by having this case actually litigated and seeing the real dynamics of what went on that terrible, terrible night when that innocent woman was almost killed while jogging in Central Park,” Dershowitz said.
Dershowitz added that the suit hinges on the plaintiffs proving that Trump knowingly and intentionally lied about them.
“They also have another problem. He said the same thing years earlier. They were damaged years earlier by his full-page ad in the New York Times. And they have to show that it was the repetition of the damages during the debate, which is what caused the new damages,” Dershowitz said. “Trump was entitled to call for the return of the death penalty. He was entitled to use this case. Now, you know, the New York Times versus Sullivan established the principle that you don’t have to name the person specifically in order to be guilty. All you have to do is describe them in ways that make them recognizable. So this is going to be a complicated case.”
The lawsuit highlights Trump’s long-running feud with the Central Park Five, who were wrongly convicted of the 1989 attack on investment banker Trisha Meili during her evening jog. The assault was so severe that doctors feared she wouldn’t survive, leading prosecutors to initially treat the case as a potential homicide.
The five men filed a defamation lawsuit against Trump in October, accusing him of falsely linking them to the 1989 crime. They cited Trump’s comments during his Sept. 10 debate with former Vice President Kamala Harris, where she also brought up his past call for their execution.
(Featured Image Media Credit: Screenshot/Newsmax)
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