$5 million verdict for E. Jean Carroll in civil trial against Trump
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NEW YORK — Jurors in a civil trial in New York have found that former president Donald Trump sexually abused and defamed E. Jean Carroll, a writer who accused him of raping her in the mid-1990s. They awarded Carroll $5 million in combined damages, concluding that she was injured by Trump and further harmed by his vehement denials calling her a liar.
The finding on Tuesday afternoon came after jurors deliberated for a little under three hours.
Carroll first publicly accused Trump in 2019, during his presidency. She said that the two had bumped into each other many years earlier during a chance encounter at Bergdorf Goodman, an upscale Manhattan department store. When they were inside a dressing room, Carroll alleged, Trump sexually assaulted her before she was able to flee.
Trump has vehemently denied her allegations, accusing her of making up the claims. She sued him last year for battery and defamation, stemming from a statement he posted to social media calling her a liar.
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The case has unfolded over the last two weeks in a Lower Manhattan courtroom, with Carroll taking the stand across three days of sometimes graphic testimony, in which she described the trauma of the alleged attack and then further pain when Trump ridiculed her later by calling her a fraud.
Trump had no obligation to appear in court or testify, and he ultimately did neither. His attorney did not call any witnesses, instead using opening and closing arguments, along with cross-examination of Carroll and her witnesses, to take aim at her allegations, suggesting they are fraudulent and far-fetched.
Because this is a civil trial, not a criminal one, Trump faced no jail time, and Carroll’s lawyers did not have to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt, the standard for a criminal trial. Instead, Carroll largely needed to prove her claims with a preponderance of evidence, essentially meaning that her allegations were more likely than not true.
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On her allegation that Trump defamed her last with a mocking social media post, jurors had to find that Carroll proved that his statement was false and made with actual malice through what is known as “clear and convincing evidence." That essentially means she had to convince jurors her claims were highly probable, a higher standard than what was required on her other allegations but not as strict as the requirements in criminal cases.
Nine jurors were seated in the case last month — six men and three women. U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan ordered their names kept private to avoid potential harassment and intense media scrutiny.
In addition to hearing from Carroll, the jurors also heard two of her friends say that she told them at the time about the alleged attack.
Former president Donald Trump in a deposition for E. Jean Carroll’s lawsuit against him mistook Carroll, who accused him of rape, for his ex-wife Marla Maples. (Video: Obtained by The Washington Post)
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He asked Carroll about never reporting the alleged attack to police, suggested her life and career improved after accusing Trump and contrasted her testimony about enduring trauma with previous remarks that she “never suffered.”
For Trump, the case serves as a reckoning of sorts over longstanding allegations that he has mistreated women. More than a dozen women, including Carroll, have accused him of sexual assault or other misconduct. Trump has denied all of their allegations and assailed all of his accusers as liars.
Two of these women -- Jessica Leeds and Natasha Stoynoff, who both say Trump forced himself on them years apart — testified during the trial.
Carroll, meanwhile, has described the trial as a moment of some satisfaction because she got an opportunity to have her allegations heard before a jury.
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She has previously told her story in legal filings, media interviews and her 2019 book, but the trial has given her a chance to have the legal system hear her claims and render a verdict.
Trump is facing numerous other legal and investigative inquiries as he campaigns for another term in the White House, including a criminal indictment for falsification of business records in Manhattan and investigations into his handling of classified material and efforts to block Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election. New York’s attorney general also filed a civil lawsuit accusing Trump and some of his adult children of committing fraud at their namesake company.
Trump has denied wrongdoing in all matters, saying that his investigators and critics are politically biased.
Berman reported from Washington.
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Source: The Washington Post
