In the midst of a tumultuous session, a federal jury in New York ruled this Friday that former president and White House candidate Donald Trump must pay a total of US$83 million to the writer E.Jean Carrol for defamation. In a previous trial, it had been determined that the woman was sexually abused in the 1990s and after that ruling Trump made statements that caused her damages, the Court has now determined.
The jury, whose members participated anonymously, retired to deliberate for three hours on the case after both sides presented their closing arguments Friday, in a session that was at times contentious. Trump left the courtroom as Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, spoke and asked the jury to award her client at least $24 million in damages.
The defamation case is the second Carroll has brought against Trump. The judge overseeing the trial already ruled that Carroll was telling the truth about the sexual assault he suffered when the tycoon entered a dressing room of a luxury store on 5th Avenue and lunged at her while groping her genitals. Now they decided that the statements Trump made in 2019 about her were defamatory and he must make amends.
Carroll’s attorney was about 10 minutes into her closing argument Friday when Trump, who was sitting at the defense table, stood up and left the courtroom. Before leaving, Kaplan repeatedly told the jury that he sexually assaulted Carroll, causing the former president to shake his head. She then moved on to Trump’s repeated defamatory statements, saying that “usually when people are held accountable for false and defamatory lies, they stop.”
“He continued to defame Ms. Carroll even while this trial was ongoing,” Kaplan said.
Attorney Kaplan explained to the jury the first statements Trump made in 2019 and the many times he has repeated his statements were defamatory, such as that he never met Carroll, that she is not his “type,” that he did not assault her and that The case is a “hoax.”
“Those false denials and attacks continued while you were in this courtroom… while you were sitting in those seats,” Kaplan said, before showing a clip of a news conference Trump gave last week, when he lashed out again. against Carroll.
Kaplan, who says that with the compensation he seeks to stop Trump from defaming his client, ended by pointing out that Trump did not attend the first trial, when the question of whether he sexually abused Carrol was raised before the jury, but he did appear at these proceedings. , when damages were at stake.
“The only thing Donald Trump cares about is money,” he said.
The news falls like a bomb on Trump’s finances in the middle of the election campaign. However, politically these trials have not affected him. He continues to lead the Republican internal elections by more than 50 points and is even above Joe Biden for the general elections.
Alina Habba, Trump’s attorney, presented the defense’s closing argument, with Trump back in the courtroom.
He focused on what he called a “five-hour gap” in 2019 between the time Carroll’s allegations first emerged and Trump’s first defamatory statement. Habba said Carroll had not proven “causation” between Trump’s statement and the harassment Carroll received.
Habba focused on one part of Carroll’s testimony when he described the first night he began receiving threats. He testified that he hung his pants out of a hotel window out of fear.
“He didn’t call the police, but he hung up his pants,” Habba said. “He didn’t tell anyone, but he hung up his pants.” Habba continued: “There are two versions of E. Jean Carroll: the truth, that her friend knew and testified, and the one that comes to court to get money from my client.”
At one point, Trump turned to look at Crowley, staring at him, arms crossed. As she continued to talk, often pointing at him, he became more animated, shaking his head and grimacing.
“They want you to decide that it’s Ms. Carroll’s fault, that somehow Donald Trump is a victim,” Crowley said, as Trump appeared to nod.
“The man who did these things to her, the man who sexually assaulted her, can do whatever he wants,” Crowley said. “The rules don’t apply to him,” she added, before encouraging the jury, once again, to reach a verdict that “gives him pause.”
2024-01-27 08:15:04
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