Donald Trump in 1996 author E. Jean sexually abused and defamed Carol. A federal court jury in New York reached the verdict, ordering the former US president to pay a total of five million dollars in damages. A nine-member jury reached its unanimous verdict in three hours on Tuesday at the end of a more than two-week trial.
More than two dozen women have accused Trump of sexual misconduct. But Carroll’s case goes before a jury first. It was not a criminal, but a civil proceeding, in which Carroll accused the former US president of defamation because he described his allegations on social media as fabricated.
E. Jean Carroll smiles as she walks outside a courthouse in Manhattan.
(Photo: Andrew Kelly/Reuters)
Judges said Trump did not sexually assault the woman, he did. He also tarnished her reputation. In both cases, Trump behaved particularly unkindly, as the six men and three women on the jury found.
He had testified in detail about how the attack took place in the dressing room
The 79-year-old plaintiff accepted the verdict with a smile. In 1996, he testified in court detailing how the attack took place in a changing room at the luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman in New York. She also had to explain the gaps in her memory: among other things, she couldn’t name the date. Carroll said what happened had been kept under wraps for too long, and that it was only through the “Me Too” movement that he found the courage to take Trump to court. A witness and experts corroborated their accounts, including a friend who called Carroll after the attack.
Trump accused Carroll of fabricating the attack to boost sales of his memoirs. The former US president did not appear in court; Only one video of his trial was played, in which he mistook Carol for his ex-wife and said she wasn’t his type. Making headlines during the 2016 election campaign, Trump reiterated his statement that he could grab women between the legs with impunity because he was a star.
Trump’s attorney, Joe Tacobina, has announced that he will appeal the ruling.
(Photo: Brendan McDermidt/Reuters)
Former US President Donald Trump’s lawyer has announced that he will appeal the jury’s verdict. “He’s ready to move on. He’s going to fight it through an appeal,” attorney Joseph Tacobina said of his client outside court. He welcomes the dismissal of the civil rape case. However, the verdict was contradictory – the court was also biased.
Trump tweeted that the verdict was a disgrace
After the verdict was announced, Trump said on his social media site, Truth Social, that he did not know who Carroll was. The verdict is a “disgrace”, part of the judiciary’s “witch hunt”. He intends to appeal against the verdict.
Trump is currently charged in New York state court with accounting, tax and campaign finance laws. The 2020 presidential election, the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol and further investigations into classified documents Trump kept at his home.
So far no verdict has been delivered in any criminal case. So the civil law ruling from New York is of particular importance to Trump. Politically, the fights with the judiciary have done no damage to the Republican presidential candidate, quite the contrary. In the 2024 election polls, she has held a significant lead over her opponent, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, since the New York attorney’s office filed the indictment on March 30. Trump has since raised more than $30 million in campaign donations.
. “Amateur alcohol specialist. Reader. Hardcore introvert. Freelance explorer.”