E Jean Carroll: Jury finds Trump sexually abused writer in NY department store

A jury in a civil lawsuit has found that former President Donald Trump sexually abused a magazine columnist at a New York department store in the 1990s.

But Trump was not charged with raping E. Gene Carroll in the Bergdorf Goodman locker room.

A jury also found Trump guilty of defamation for calling the accusations “hoaxed and lied.”

It’s the first time Trump has been held legally responsible for sexual assault.

A jury in Manhattan ordered Trump to pay about $5 million in damages.

A jury of six men and three women reached their decision on Tuesday after less than three hours of deliberation.

“Today the world finally learned the truth,” Carroll said in a statement following the verdict. is.”

A lawyer for Trump said the former president plans to appeal the decision.

Trump does not have to register as a sex offender because the trial was a civil one, not a criminal one.

The former president, who denied Carroll’s accusations, did not attend the two-week civil trial in Manhattan federal court.

Carol, 79, held both attorneys’ hands as the court’s verdict was read and smiled as the jury awarded her damages.

Trump’s attorney, Joe Tacopina, shook hands after the trial ended and said, “Congratulations and good luck.”

“This is a victory not only for E. Jean Carroll, but for democracy itself, and for all survivors everywhere,” plaintiffs’ attorney Roberta Kaplan said in a statement.

After the ruling, the 76-year-old Trump posted in all caps on his social media platform Truth Social, saying, “I have absolutely no idea who this woman is.

“This verdict is dishonorable – the continuation of the greatest witch hunt in history!”

The standard of proof in civil lawsuits is lower than in criminal lawsuits, meaning the jury was only required to determine that Trump likely assaulted Carroll.

The jury found Trump responsible for Carroll’s sexual assault and defamation, but found Trump not responsible for Carroll’s rape. He had to be convinced that he had had non-consensual intercourse with Mr. Carroll.

The trial involved tense cross-examination between Carroll and Trump’s lawyers.

Her attorney team called 11 witnesses to back up her allegations that Trump assaulted her in the lingerie department of a luxury store in 1995 or 1996.

Among them were two women who said Trump sexually assaulted them decades earlier. Another woman said Trump forced her to kiss her while she was interviewing him for an article she was writing in 2005.

Two of Carroll’s longtime friends testified that she told them about it shortly after the encounter.

On the stand, Ms. Carol described in graphic detail what she claimed happened at the store and the trauma she said she endured as a result.

“I’m here because Donald Trump raped me. When I wrote about it, he lied and said it didn’t happen,” she told the court.

Trump denied rape, calling no witnesses and only appearing in a deposition video that was played for the jury.

“This is the most ridiculous and disgusting story,” Trump said in the video.

Carroll’s lawsuit alleges that Trump defamed her in a post he posted on his social media sites in October 2022, calling Carroll’s allegations “complete fraud” and “hoaxes and lies.” claimed.

Her defense team claimed Trump acted as a “witness against himself” during the deposition when he doubled down on comments he made on the 2005 recording.

In an audio leaked in 2016, known as the Access Hollywood tape, Trump suggested that women be allowed to “do whatever” to the star, including grabbing his genitals.

Her attorney claimed that’s what he did to Ms. Carol.

In a taped deposition, Trump at one point confused Carroll with his ex-wife, Marla Maples, but Carroll’s lawyers said he was “not his type.” He argued that it undermined the allegations.

Tacopina tried to question Carroll’s story, but he called it “fiction.”

He questioned why Carroll was unable to specify the date of the attack, claiming Trump had robbed him of an opportunity to provide an alibi.

“Without a date, month and year, you cannot provide an alibi or call witnesses,” Tacopina said. “What they want is to hate him to the point of ignoring the facts.”

Tacopina also asked her why she didn’t call the police or scream when the crime happened.

The former Elle magazine columnist was able to file a civil suit against Trump after New York passed the Adult Survivors Act in 2022.

The law allows a victim a one-year period to file a sexual assault lawsuit in the state, which usually includes claims that exceed the statutory limit.