re: #309 fern01
Is the Judge in the Manafort trial a trump supporter. One of the latest exchanges with the prosecutors - basically comes down to “Don’t believe what I say”
The judge berated prosecutors again when he learned that the prosecution’s next witness — IRS agent Michael Welch — had been watching the trial from the gallery. My emphasis
I’m going to say no. What the judge is doing is making the case appeal proof. As popehat indicated in an oped the other day, judges hate getting their rulings overturned more than anything else, and will ride the prosecutors in cases where the prosecutors have slam dunk abilities because they want to make sure the case sticks.
Manafort will try on appeal to claim that X, Y, and Z were errors and should be reversed. But Ellis is showing that X, Y, and Z were properly handled and that he’s doing everything by the book.
In these kinds of cases, the prosecutors will get no deference from the judge because they already hold all the cards, and defense gets help because the judge knows that the defense is screwed.
Put plainly - there’s no connection between judges who ride the prosecution in a case and how they will eventually rule on the case.