Jury finds Donald Trump sexually abused E. Jean Carroll, awards millions in damages

New York: A civil jury has found that former US president Donald Trump sexually abused and defamed New York author E. Jean Carroll, awarding her $US5 million ($7.4 million) in damages, but stopped short of ruling that he raped her.

In a potential blow to Trump’s campaign for re-election, he has been found liable for battery and defamation against Carroll, who claims he attacked her in the lingerie dressing room of a Manhattan department store in the mid-1990s.

In this image taken from video, former president Donald Trump answers questions during his deposition on October 19, 2022.Credit: Kaplan Hecker & Fink via AP

The finding, by a jury of six men and three women, is a watershed moment for the #MeToo movement that was set in motion by the sexual predation of Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.

Trump has been accused of sexual harassment or assault by more than two dozen women since the 1970s, but this marks the first time he has been held to account by a civil court. The case was not criminal, meaning he has not been convicted of any crime and faces no prison time.

However, Trump, who will appeal against the verdict, has consistently denied the claims, insisting Carroll’s allegation was a lie driven by politics and profits for a book she published in 2019. He also argued that he had “never met” Carroll and “she’s not my type”.

“I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHO THIS WOMAN IS,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform in capital letters immediately after the decision was announced in court. “THIS VERDICT IS A DISGRACE - A CONTINUATION OF THE GREATEST WITCH HUNT OF ALL TIME.”

E. Jean Carroll arrives at Manhattan Federal Court on Tuesday.Credit: AP

Carroll was all smiles as she left the court with her legal team but did not make any comment or take any questions from the media. However, in a statement issued a few hours later, Carroll, now 79, said: “I filed this lawsuit against Donald Trump to clear my name and to get my life back. Today, the world finally knows the truth.

“This victory is not just for me but for every woman who has suffered because she was not believed.”

The ruling comes weeks after Trump was indicted in Manhattan over alleged hush money paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

He is also facing a string of other legal problems, including a Georgia investigation into election interference, a federal probe into the handling of classified documents and another investigation into his role in the January 6 Capitol attack.

At the time of the sexual abuse, Carroll was well known in Manhattan’s media circles for her long-running “Ask E. Jean” advice column for Elle magazine.

She claims the incident took place one evening when she bumped into Trump at Bergdorf Goodman, an upscale department store in Manhattan.

The jury heard that Trump asked her to help him pick out a present for another woman (he was married to Marla Maples at the time) and then assaulted Carroll in a lingerie dressing room, where he allegedly knocked her head against a wall, pulled down her tights and briefly penetrated her before she pushed him off and ran out.

She also claimed that years later, Trump defamed her and damaged her reputation when she finally spoke out publicly about the attack.

Carroll’s legal team had called 10 other witnesses, including two women who claim they had also been attacked by Trump, and two friends who claim that Carroll told them about the attack soon after it happened.

Trump was free to attend the trial but did not appear and the only expert witness he was planning to call, a psychiatrist, was withdrawn at the last minute over health issues.

In his absence, the jury relied on a video deposition from October last year, in which he was questioned by Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan about the case.

During the deposition, Trump was asked about the now infamous Access Hollywood tape, in which he was overheard bragging to TV host Billy Bush about groping women without their consent.

“When you’re a star, they let you do it,” he said, unaware that there was a hot mic. “Grab ’em by the p---y. You can do anything.”

Asked by Kaplan if this was true, Trump replied: “Well, if you look over the last million years, I guess that’s been largely true. Not always, but largely true. Unfortunately – or fortunately.”

His claim that Carroll was not his “type” was also undercut when he mistook a photograph of his accuser for Maples, his second wife.

“It’s Marla,” he said, before being told the blonde woman in the photo he was examining was Carroll. “Is that Carroll? Because it’s very blurry.”

Trump’s lawyer, Joe Tacopina, on the other hand, described the allegations as an “unbelievable work of fiction” and an “affront to justice”.

He pointed to gaps in Carroll’s evidence, such as the fact that she couldn’t remember the exact date, month or year she was assaulted, or that she did not report the attack to police or mention it until many years later, as signs that her allegation was a lie.

“It’s not a coincidence all of them can’t narrow down the time frame because they don’t want to give Donald Trump the opportunity to present an alibi witness,” Tacopina told the jury.

Ultimately, after three hours of deliberations, the jury found Trump liable, awarding Carroll $US2.7 million ($4 million) in compensatory damages, as well as $US280,000 in punitive damages for her defamation claim.

Jurors awarded Carroll $US2 million in compensatory damages and $US20,000 in punitive damages for her battery claim. Total damages awarded amount to $US5 million.

Speaking after the verdict, Tacopina said “there were plenty of issues to appeal”.

While he was happy the jury rejected the claim of rape, “I’m not happy that he was found liable for anything whatsoever based on the evidence”.

“It’s a bit inconsistent because all along she has claimed it was a rape … and the jury rejected it, so it’s hard to sort of square that with the rest of the verdict,” he added.

Trump is due to be interviewed on CNN on Thursday morning (AEST) for a two-hour town hall in New Hampshire. The live event was announced a week ago.

Until recently, the statute of limitations for civil claims by sexual assault survivors in New York was generally three years. However, in 2021, the state passed the Adult Survivors Act, which created a one-year window – from November 24, 2022, to November 24, 2023 – in which the statute of limitations was lifted, allowing people to make claims.

Activists and sexual assault survivors hope the move will result in more women coming forward with allegations – particularly against powerful men.

“When you’re raped by a person who was effectively a global brand, the fallout envelopes every aspect of your life,” said survivor Drew Dixon from the victim assistance organisation Safe Horizon.

“The sheer ubiquity of someone who is famous, powerful and super rich makes it almost impossible to move on.”

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