A federal jury in New York has found former President Donald Trump liable for assault and defamation in a civil trial stemming from allegations that he raped writer E. Jean Carroll in a department store dressing room in the mid-1990s.
He was awarded a total of $5 million in damages.
The jury, made up of six men and three women, received the case earlier Tuesday and deliberate for less than three hours. The jury’s decision had to be unanimous. In closing arguments, Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, reminded the jury that for the battery charge, “all it takes is that it’s more likely than not” that Trump attacked Carroll to find him responsible , which is a much lower standard than the “beyond a “reasonable doubt”” standard applied in criminal trials.
The jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse, but not rape, and also found that he defamed Carroll.
After the verdict, Trump posted on Truth Social: “I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHO THIS WOMAN IS. THIS VERDICT IS A DISAGREEMENT – A CONTINUATION OF THE GREATEST WITCH HUNT OF ALL TIME!”
In two videos posted on his Truth Social account Wednesday night, Trump called the verdict a “disgrace” and a “farce” and said he and his legal team “will appeal this decision.”
Jane Rosenberg
Before Judge Lewis Kaplan dismissed the jurors, who remained anonymous throughout the trial, he thanked them and told them they are now free to speak publicly about their service. However, he advised them against it. If they do, it prevented them from identifying any of their peers on the panel.
As the jurors left the courtroom for the last time, none of them appeared to make eye contact with Carroll on their way out. After the jurors left, Carroll’s attorneys hugged her. Trump was not in the courtroom for the verdict or any of the trial.
During the eight-day trial, Carroll’s lawyers presented a case to the jury to explain how his allegations fit a pattern, or “modus operandi,” for Trump. In addition to witnesses who said Carroll confided in them after the incident, the jury heard from two other women who described Trump suddenly turning casual encounters into sexual misconduct. They also watched the “Access Hollywood” video clip in which Trump could be heard crudely describing grabbing women by their genitals.
Trump’s lawyers did not call any witnesses i did not declare in the trial They argued that Carroll and the 10 other witnesses his team called were conspiring to smear a former president out of hatred for him.
Before the verdict Tuesday morning, Trump posted Social Truth that he “wasn’t allowed to speak or defend me, even when hard-nosed reporters called me questions about this case.”
Trump was allowed to testify in his own defense, but chose not to. Jurors were shown Trump’s October videotaped statement in which he repeatedly denied the allegations.
Carroll accused Trump of assaulting and raping her in a fitting room at a Bergdorf Goodman department store in New York City in the mid-1990s, and then defaming her after she published her account in 2019 .Trump, who has claimed he never met Carroll and “she is.” he’s not my type,” she vehemently denied his accusations.
Seth Wenig / AP
His statements about Carroll were central to his defamation claim. The jury was shown a photo from the late 1980s that appears to depict Trump and Carroll conversing with their spouses. They also saw the moment Trump’s videotaped statement when he was shown the photo and incorrectly identified Carroll as his ex-wife Marla Maples. Defense attorney Roberta Kaplan argued it was proof that Carroll really was Trump’s “type.”
After Trump was told he had misplaced the women during his deposition, he said the photo was “blurry.”
Carroll testified during the trial, saying he bumped into Trump as he was leaving the store one night. She said Trump recognized her and said “Hey, you’re that council lady,” referring to a magazine column she wrote for nearly three decades. She said he replied, “Hey, you’re this real estate mogul.”
Carroll, then 52, said Trump, then 50, wanted advice on buying a girl a present. She described a nice, “playful” banter as they browsed the store, even after he suggested they go to the lingerie department.
Carroll, who wrote for “Saturday Night Live” in the 1980s, said the encounter seemed like a comedic scene, until things took a dark turn when they went to a dressing room.
Carroll said Trump pushed her against the wall, her head hitting it. She said Trump penetrated her forcefully with his hand, causing her severe pain, and then penetrated her with his penis.
Carroll said she managed to force her knee between them, pushing him away before walking away as fast as she could.
She said she told two other people about the alleged attack soon after, her friends Lisa Birnbach and Carol Martin. Both were called to testify during the trial, giving testimony that largely matched Carroll’s recollection.
Trump’s lawyer, Joe Tacopina, showed jurors emails and text messages between Carroll, Martin and Birnbach that appeared to show their animosity toward Trump, who was then president, as the defense tried to portray a politically motivated effort by I choose to use Carroll’s story to smear. he
Tacopina presented the case as one where Trump “had no story to tell,” because he said Carroll’s claim was completely made up. In his closing arguments, Kaplan said the jury had to decide who was telling the truth: “the relentless liar” Trump, or 11 people who testified under oath on Carroll’s behalf.
In the end, the jury believed her.
What is the difference between sexual assault and rape?
The jury decided to go with sexual assault over rape, potentially for several reasons, CBS News legal analyst Rikki Klieman explained.
.@rikkijklieman explains the difference between rape and sexual assault after a jury finds Trump liable for assault and defamation.
“In many jurisdictions, this type of vaginal penetration with a finger would also be considered rape, but perhaps this jury felt differently.” pic.twitter.com/lBZF1Hn1YZ
— CBS News (@CBSNews) May 9, 2023
Klieman defined sexual assault as “forced touching and more.”
One possible reason the jury chose sexual assault over rape is that they reached a “compromise” about what actually happened, Klieman explained. Klieman said Carroll was very “emphatic” about a finger and how it felt.
“In many jurisdictions, this type of vaginal penetration with a finger would also be considered rape, but perhaps this jury felt differently,” he said. “There’s no doubt that they saw and heard enough to say, ‘Well, maybe it wasn’t a violation for all kinds of extraneous reasons,’ but nevertheless they felt that, with further questioning, they might find that it was a sexual abuse. it didn’t go further down the judge’s list of included ‘minor’ offenses, as lawyers would say.”
Editor’s note: A byline in this story has been updated to correct a reference to the jury’s verdict. They held that Trump was responsible for sexual abuse, not sexual assault.
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