Trump’s request for a new trial in the E. Jean Carroll case is denied.
Federal Judge Rejects Trump’s Request for New Trial in E. Jean Carroll Case
A federal judge on Wednesday denied Donald Trump’s plea for a new trial following a jury’s verdict that found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll, awarding her $5 million in damages.
In a 59-page decision, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan also dismissed Trump’s arguments for reducing the damages to less than $1 million.
Kaplan emphasized that the May 9 verdict was overwhelmingly in favor of Ms. Carroll, stating that it was neither a “seriously erroneous result” nor a “miscarriage of justice.”
Allegations and Defamation
E. Jean Carroll, 79, accused Trump, 77, of raping her in a Manhattan department store dressing room in the mid-1990s. Trump later defamed her by labeling the incident a hoax on his Truth Social platform in October 2022.
Trump, who is currently running for presidency again, plans to appeal the verdict. His lawyer has not yet responded to requests for comment.
Carroll is also pursuing a separate $10 million defamation lawsuit against Trump for comments he made in the White House in June 2019, after she initially accused him of assaulting her in the Bergdorf Goodman department store.
During the interview, Trump denied knowing Carroll, claimed she was not his “type,” and accused her of lying to boost sales of her memoir, which had been excerpted in New York magazine.
Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, who is not related to the judge, expressed her client’s satisfaction with the $5 million award and her determination to hold Trump accountable in the upcoming trial for the second defamation lawsuit, scheduled for January 15, 2024.
Judge Clarifies Jury Verdict
In his attempt to reduce the damages, Trump argued that the $2 million awarded for sexual abuse was “grossly excessive” since it could have included actions such as groping Carroll’s breasts through clothing, which he claimed was far from rape.
However, Judge Kaplan clarified that New York’s penal law defines rape more narrowly than commonly believed, and Trump was mistaken in using this argument to excuse himself.
The judge stated, “The evidence convincingly established, and the jury implicitly found, that Mr. Trump deliberately and forcibly penetrated Ms. Carroll’s vagina with his fingers, causing immediate pain and long-lasting emotional and psychological harm.”
Regarding the $3 million defamation award, the judge rejected Trump’s assertion that it was based on “pure speculation” about the harm to Carroll’s reputation, stating that the evidence justified the amount.
Other Legal Troubles for Trump
Aside from the Carroll case, Trump is facing numerous other legal challenges. These include a federal indictment for taking classified documents and obstructing government efforts to retrieve them, a New York indictment over hush money payments to a porn star before the 2016 election, and potential charges related to his attempts to remain in the White House after losing the 2020 election.
The case is Carroll v. Trump, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 22-10016. Carroll’s original lawsuit is Carroll v Trump in the same court, No. 20-07311.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Jonathan Oatis)
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