U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon rejected Donald Trump’s plea to dismiss charges, but she did remove a part of the indictment claiming Trump showed a military map to an unauthorized person, adding that it was inappropriate for special counsel Jack Smith to even list it.
Cannon stated, “The identified deficiencies, even if generating some arguable confusion, are either permitted by law, raise evidentiary challenges not appropriate for disposition at this juncture, and/or do not require dismissal even if technically deficient, so long as the jury is instructed appropriately and presented with adequate verdict forms as to each Defendants’ alleged conduct.
Having reviewed these arguments in their totality and carefully considered the Superseding Indictment as a whole, the Court agrees that much of the language in the Superseding Indictment is legally unnecessary to serve the function of an indictment as explained in the foregoing caselaw. The Court also notes the risks that can flow from a prosecutor’s decision to include in a charging document an extensive narrative account of his or her view of the facts, especially in cases of significant public interest.”
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Excerpt from www.westernjournal.comThe federal judge overseeing the trial of former President Donald Trump on charges of mishandling classified documents on Monday rejected a bid from Trump’s lawyers to have multiple charges dismissed.
U.S. District Judge Alieen Cannon did, however, strike one part of the indictment against Trump that claimed he showed a military map to a former aide who did not have sufficient clearance to view it, according to the Washington Examiner.
In her ruling in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Cannon took a sour tone concerning the indictment brought by special counsel Jack Smith but said most of the claims from Trump did not rise to the level of tossing out the charges against him.
“The identified deficiencies, even if generating some arguable confusion, are either permitted by law, raise evidentiary challenges not appropriate for disposition at this juncture, and/or do not require dismissal even if technically deficient, so long as the jury is instructed appropriately and presented with adequate verdict forms as to each Defendants’ alleged conduct,” she wrote.
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