A Manhattan jury sided with advice columnist E. Jean Carroll in her civil lawsuit against former President Donald Trump, whom she says raped her in a department store dressing room in the 1990s.
The panel reached its decision Tuesday after less than three hours of deliberation, finding him liable for sexual abuse — but not rape — and declaring he owes $5 million in total damages. Trump never appeared in court once.
Carroll beamed and squeezed the hand of one of her attorneys, Roberta Kaplan, as she exited the courthouse.
“We’re very happy,” she told a crowd of reporters, declining to comment further.
Trump, meanwhile, reacted angrily on social media, calling the verdict “A DISGRACE” and “A CONTINUATION OF THE GREATEST WITCH HUNT OF ALL TIME!”
Carroll was able to sue for battery under New York’s Adult Survivors Act that was passed last year to allow people who were sexually abused a one-time chance to file civil suits despite any relevant statutes of limitations.
She also accused Trump of defamation, as the former president has repeatedly responded to her claims with an array of personal insults. Trump has said Carroll was a liar and called her claim a “hoax,” which could not be true because Carroll was not his “type.” He also suggested she was too old at the time of the alleged incident to compel his sexual interest, although they would have been nearly the same age. In his videotaped deposition played for the jury, Trump even confused Carroll for one of his ex-wives, Marla Maples, as he examined an old photograph of himself at a party with the two women. Jurors awarded Carroll $2 million for the finding of sexual abuse and another $3 million for the defamation claim; she had not asked for any precise monetary amount.
While the former president faced no risk of jail time in connection with Carroll’s claims, criminal charges filed in April by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg relating to alleged hush money payments come with the possibility of time behind bars, albeit a slim one. Other investigations into Trump are also pending. |