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Trump Libal for Battery, Defamation in E Jean Carrol Suit

A jury has found former President Donald Trump liable for battery and defamation in the E. Jean Carroll case.

Carroll, who brought the lawsuit in November, alleged that Trump defamed her in his 2022 Truth Social post by calling her allegations "a Hoax and a lie" and saying "This woman is not my type!" when he denied her claim that Trump raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the 1990s.

The former Elle magazine columnist added a charge of battery under a recently adopted New York law that allows adult survivors of sexual abuse to sue their alleged attacker regardless of the statute of limitations. Trump has denied all allegations that he raped Carroll or defamed her.

MORE: In closing argument, attorney for E. Jean Carroll says she was 'exactly' Trump's type
The jury awarded Carroll a total of $5 million in the lawsuit. Jury members found that Trump did not rape Carroll but sexually abused her, and awarded damages of $2 million in compensatory damages and $20,000 in punitive damages for battery.

The jury awarded $1 million in damages, $1.7 million for reputation repair, and $280,000 in punitive damages, for defamation.

The jury reached its verdict after just under three hours of deliberations.

Trump has been accused of sexual misconduct by about two dozen women. Carroll's battery allegation was the first to make it before a jury.

Following the verdict, Trump called it a disgrace.

"I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHO THIS WOMAN IS," he posted to his Truth Social platform. "THIS VERDICT IS A DISGRACE - A CONTINUATION OF THE GREATEST WITCH HUNT OF ALL TIME!"

Carroll was seated between two of her attorneys, Roberta Kaplan and Shawn Crowley, as the verdict was read. At one point Crowley put her arm around Carroll, who held hands with Kaplan.

Defense attorney Joe Tacopina was seen conferring with co-counsel Chad Siegel and Perry Brandt.

Before deliberations started, Trump posted on social media, "Waiting for a jury decision on a False Accusation where I, despite being a current political candidate and leading all others in both parties, am not allowed to speak or defend myself, even as hard nosed reporters scream questions about this case at me. In the meantime, the other side has a book falsely accusing me of Rape, & is working with the press. I will therefore not speak until after the trial, but will appeal the Unconstitutional silencing of me, as a candidate, no matter the outcome."

Early in the trial the judge had admonished the defense over Trump's social media posts about Carroll and her allegations. The judge did not address this most recent post, but previously indicated that if Trump wanted to speak about the case he should testify under oath, which Trump declined to do.

MORE: In closing argument, attorney for E. Jean Carroll says she was 'exactly' Trump's type
In a civil case jurors are allowed to draw a negative inference when a defendant decides not to testify.

"He just decided not to be here. He never looked you in the eye and denied raping Ms. Carroll. Never did that," Carroll's attorney, Michael Ferrara, told jurors during the trial.

Carroll testified during the trial that she ran into Trump near the Bergdorf Goodman entrance and that he asked her to help him buy some lingerie as a gift. The two were laughing and joking, she said, when he led her into a dressing room, shut the door, shoved her up against a wall, and sexually assaulted her.

She told the jury that she first met Trump in 1987 -- but she struggled to pinpoint the date that she alleges he attacked her, which she estimated was sometime around 1996.

"And why is there no date to an event as significant as this in someone's life?" defense attorney Joe Tacopina countered. "It's not a coincidence. With no date, no month, no year, you can't present an alibi."

Carroll's attorneys seized on Trump's deposition last year when he was shown a 1980s-era photograph of Carroll, her then-husband John Johnson, Trump, and his then-wife Ivana Trump -- and he momentarily mistook Carroll for his second wife, Marla Maples.

"That's Marla, yeah. That's my wife," Trump said regarding Carroll, according to the deposition.

"The truth is that E. Jean Carroll, a former cheerleader and Ms. Indiana, was exactly Donald Trump's type," Carroll's attorneys argued in court.

Carroll's attorneys juxtaposed Trump's mistaken identification with his remarks on the infamous 2005 "Access Hollywood" tape, on which he is heard saying about women that "I just start kissing them ... I don't even wait" and that when you're a star you can "grab them by the p----."

"What is Donald Trump doing here?" Carroll's attorney said. "He's telling you in his own words how he treats women. It's his modus operandi."

The jury also heard from two other women who claimed they had been sexually assaulted by Trump, in what Carroll's attorneys said showed a pattern of behavior on Trump's part. Former People magazine writer Natasha Stoynoff testified that she was at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in late 2005 when Trump asked to show her a room in the estate, then closed the door behind her, pushed her against the wall, and started kissing her. She told the jury that she tried to shove him away, and that the alleged encounter ended when a butler entered the room.

MORE: Trump won't testify in E. Jean Carroll trial after judge's deadline passes
Jessica Leeds testified that she was seated next to Trump in the first-class section of a flight to New York in 1979, "when all of a sudden Trump decided to kiss me and grope me." She said that she freed herself when Trump started putting his hand up her skirt, and went "storming back" to the coach section.

Trump, who chose not to testify in his own defense, has previously denied the allegations from both women, as well as from Carroll.

The defense called no witnesses but Trump's attorney, Joe Tacopina, told the jury that Carroll's claim was "an unbelievable work of fiction" and that if the alleged attacker was anyone but Donald Trump, "we're not here. Not on this story."

"What they want is for you to hate him enough to ignore the facts," the attorney said.

MORE: Trump, in deposition, doubles down on 'Access Hollywood' remarks about grabbing women
"There is no objective evidence to corroborate her claim, including a police report," Tacopina told the jury. "She never went to the police, because it didn't happen."

Tacopina said Carroll "falsely alleged that he raped her," and that's why Trump publicly attacked her.

Tacopina said there was no reason for Trump to appear because Carroll's story was "completely made up" and lacked credibility because she could not pinpoint when the alleged rape occurred.

"And if Donald Trump testified, what could I have asked him?" Tacopina said. "Where were you on some unknown date 27 or 28 years ago?"

MORE: Repairing Trump's alleged damage to E. Jean Carroll's reputation could cost up to $2.7 million, expert testifies
Carroll's lawsuit was her second against Trump related to her rape allegation.

She previously sued Trump in 2019 after the then-president denied her rape claim by telling The Hill that Carroll was "totally lying," saying, "I'll say it with great respect: No. 1, she's not my type. No. 2, it never happened. It never happened, OK?" That defamation suit has been caught in a procedural back-and-forth over the question of whether Trump, as president, was acting in his official capacity as an employee of the federal government when he made those remarks.

If Trump is determined to have been acting as a government employee, the U.S. government would substitute as the defendant in that suit -- which means that case would go away, since the government cannot be sued for defamation.

This month's trial took place as Trump seeks the White House for a third time, while facing numerous legal challenges related to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, his handling of classified material after leaving the White House, and possible attempts to interfere in Georgia's 2020 vote. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said last week she would decide whether to file criminal charges against Trump or his allies this summer.

ABC News' Olivia Rubin contributed to this report.

Unbelievable. The left never fails to surprise me.

So she can publicly say he raped her without any evidence at all and without even a knowing a date, but he can’t publicly defend himself against her allegations? Can he sue her for defamation?

The jury must have been full of left wing New York lunatics. How could they find him guilty without any proof?

This fucking sham better get overturned.

Let's be mindful of what we say and how we say it. Not giving certain people any satisfaction is part of it, but it's also the least of it.

By now, anyone with a triple digit IQ should be able to see what's going on. Let's endeavor to strengthen our resolve, rather than lash out angrily, which does no good.

https://www.washingtonexaminer...roll-calls-rape-sexy

This interview should, on its face, shred her credibility. Didn't see any mention of it in other discussions.

Likely Trump will appeal and win, and it won't make much press prime time either, maybe on Tucker on Twitter.

The purpose of the lawsuit is to influence the R conservative woman vote,

I'd bet if you could get the money behind the lawsuit info, as well as who pushed her to that firm to file, right now, has also lined up other women to file suit or come out to the "press" we wouldn't be surprised it was pushed by wealthy Trump haters, D and R.

This is designed to hurt Trump by hitting the women voters with "misogyny, rape, mistreating, grab them by the pussy" rhetoric in order to change the women vote in the Suburbs to anyone but Trump...

quote:

Originally posted by RogB:
https://www.washingtonexaminer...roll-calls-rape-sexy

This interview should, on its face, shred her credibility. Didn't see any mention of it in other discussions.

Yeah, she appears sane and credible.

Hey, lady, in that interview, you know you're hitting on a fanny bandit, right? He wants to wear your lingerie, clueless.

"You're fascinating to talk to!" Yeah? Well, that's all you're ever going to get out of him.

Joey D
5/8/23

BTW, Trump is KILLING IT on CNN

I was listening to a local conservative talk radio station yesterday - WHO-am. Their guest was the president of the Iowa chapter of "Americans for Prosperity". He flat out stated that while they will endorse someone for President,it definitely wont be Trump. They are convinced he cant be elected, seemingly based mostly on the poor midterm election results - and all his legal troubles.

I always thought this was a respectable conservative organization so I was disappointed to hear them talking like that.

Trump quote at CNN Town Hall: "You're a nasty person. "

**let's see if postimage removes this one again**

This message has been edited. Last edited by: oddball,

You're tweeting when you should be serving drinks and making sandwiches for the fellas, little girl.

quote:

Originally posted by ranger312:
I was listening to a local conservative talk radio station yesterday - WHO-am. Their guest was the president of the Iowa chapter of "Americans for Prosperity". He flat out stated that while they will endorse someone for President,it definitely wont be Trump. They are convinced he cant be elected, seemingly based mostly on the poor midterm election results - and all his legal troubles.

I always thought this was a respectable conservative organization so I was disappointed to hear them talking like that.

AFP is funded by the Koch brothers. So, no surprise here.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:
Trump quote at CNN Town Hall: "You're a nasty person. "

The gal moderating this was clearly out of her league, Trump prepared for her gotcha questions. She beat a hasty retreat immediately afterwards.

Felt like Trump slam dunked that one.

But on youtube, they're calling her "courageous"

Supposedly the “townhall” was scheduled for 90 minutes, but they cut it short at 70… nothing to see here, and we’re walking.

President Trump is so good on his feet. If I were Ron DeSantis, I would not run for President in 2024. All of this is my opinion, but I think that Trump is the overwhelming favorite to be the Republican nominee and the party better realize it quick.