A federal judge has ruled that former President Donald Trump is liable in a second defamation case brought by writer E. Jean Carroll. In 2019, Carroll accused Trump of raping her in a dressing room at a New York City department store in the mid-1990s.
The jury in the upcoming trial only needs to determine the amount of money Trump must pay to her in damages.
In May, a jury in a separate civil trial found Trump sexually abused Carroll and then defamed her by denying it.
The verdict came after three hours of deliberation at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse in Lower Manhattan.
Citing that case, Judge Lewis Kaplan granted Carroll's motion for a partial summary judgment in a 25-page ruling.
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Normally, a jury would determine at trial whether a defendant is liable for civil damages claimed by a plaintiff.
But Kaplan found that Carroll was entitled to a partial summary judgment on the question of Trump's liability in the case.
He cited the fact that jurors at a trial in a separate, but related lawsuit in May found that Trump sexually abused Carroll in a New York department store in the mid-1990s, and defamed in statements he made when he denied her allegation last fall.
Carroll's lawyers argued, and Kaplan agreed, that the jury's verdict in that case effectively settled the legal question of whether Trump had defamed her in similar comments he made about Carroll in 2019.
That jury unanimously found Trump liable for $5 million in damages – $2 million for sexual assault and $3 million for defamation. Trump is appealing the verdict and damages.
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More BS from a Trump hating judge
I’m not an attorney, so I’m simply asking for someone who is to comment. Much was made of the fact that the prior jury found Trump guilty of a crime the plaintiff did not allege. Is that permissible? Seems strange to find someone guilty of a crime not alleged. This would seem to violate due process. The defense was obviously built around defending him against a different crime. Also, where would the jury get their legal instructions on this other crime to even know if that crime’s criteria had been proven?
A shame that Trump has to deal with this I am sure if he wanted there are beautiful women (like his wife for example) who will willingly bed him. I do not understand what he would want with this one – and in a clothing store – please. If you believe that I have a bridge in Brooklyn for sale!
More BS from the left. This is election interference.
Her accusations were ridiculous. You would have to be crazy to attempt abuse in such a public place. Anyone who believes this is nothing but an uninformed Trump hater.
No offense, but where is any attraction? Definitely not his type.