AP:

“There were many times, not once or twice, but many times when Ms. Necheles could’ve objected but didn’t,” the judge said.

In particular, the judge said, the defense should’ve objected to prosecutor Susan Hoffinger’s question about whether Trump used a condom, which led to Daniels’ response that he hadn’t.

“I agree. That should never have come out. That question should never have been asked and that answer should never have been given,” Merchan said. “For the life of me, I don’t know why Ms. Necheles didn’t object.”

[As I wrote in the annotated NYT post, a judge cannot let the sins of the defense attorneys deprive the defendant of a fair trial. A conviction can get reverse on ineffective assistance of counsel if the judge lets that happen.]