Alan Dershowitz Accuses Hush Money Trial Judge Of 'Unhinged Prejudice' Against Donald Trump

Alan Dershowitz, an attorney who attended the court session where the defense and prosecution rested their case in Donald Trump's hush money trial, has alleged that Judge Juan Merchan harbors a bias against the former president.

In an article, he detailed how the judge allegedly made "unconstitutional" and "unethical" rulings against the testimony of one of the defense witnesses. He also wrote that the judge's actions denied Trump the right to confront his accuser.

After the defense and prosecution concluded their questioning in Trump's hush money trial, Dershowitz, the late Jeffrey Epstein's lawyer, observed the court proceedings and publicly criticized Judge Merchan, accusing him of showing bias against Trump.

The attorney narrated how Merchan seemed to lose control of his courtroom during a back-and-forth with Robert Costello, Michael Cohen's former legal advisor, after he wrote off Costello's testimony as "hearsay" and "irrelevant."

During Costello's testimony, he contested the majority of Cohen's testimony concerning Trump being aware of the payments to his accuser, Stormy Daniels, to hide information about their affair in a bid to prevent it from impacting the 2016 presidential election.

Dershowitz felt that by "unfairly limiting" Costello's testimony, Merchan denied Trump the right "to confront his accuser through the testimony of others," a right guaranteed under the Sixth Amendment.

The attorney wrote in an article for the Daily Mail, "Judge Merchan made ruling after ruling denying Costello the ability to speak - inexplicably dismissing his testimony as hearsay and irrelevant…..I was shocked, along with the other lawyers watching in the audience."

In his article, Dershowitz also took things up a notch, describing Merchan's behavior in the confrontation with Costello as that of a "paranoid schizophrenic," a "nut on the street," and the "psycho in the film Taxi Driver."

The attorney also claimed that the entire scenario showed the judge's "apparent unhinged prejudice" against the presumptive Republican presidential candidate.

"I wish that the public could have seen what I witnessed – because I believe the judge's bias against Trump came through loud and clear," Dershowitz said.

He further slammed Merchan's ruling, saying it goes against the rule of law of the country.

"The idea that a judge would punish Trump by denying him an opportunity to present evidence over the actions of a witness is preposterous," he wrote. "It's unethical. It's unconstitutional."

Earlier in his article, Dershowitz detailed reasons why Cohen's earlier testimony should not be taken as credible by the jury.

Trump's former fixer had denied that "he would financially benefit if Trump were convicted of" the 34 counts of falsifying business records.

According to Dershowitz, Cohen's remark was "demonstrably false" because the former lawyer had used and is using the traction from the trial to make money via a proposed reality TV show, anti-Trump books, podcasts, and merchandise "portraying the former president behind bars."

He added, "All of these enterprises would be undermined by a Trump acquittal."

Expanding on his critique of Cohen, the law professor added that Cohen's admission of embezzling tens of thousands of dollars from the Trump Organization through deceptive overcharging further makes his testimony unreliable to convict a presidential candidate.

The decision of the defense and the prosecution to rest their cases has cleared the path for jurors to commence deliberations next week ahead of an eventual verdict.

It also meant that Trump would no longer be able to take the stand, despite initially hinting about his plans to do so.

If Trump eventually gets convicted, he faces over a decade in prison. However, many have speculated that a lighter sentence will be issued since the former president is a first-time offender.

The former president is also expected to appeal such a decision, taking the case to the Appellate Division in Manhattan and ultimately to the state's highest court, the Court of Appeals in Albany, if the initial appeal fails.

In the meantime, Trump is still embroiled in other cases, including one in Florida, Georgia, and Washington.