The former president of the United States Donald Trump He was found guilty of “sexual abuse” and defamation, but not of rape, in the case resulting from the complaints of the writer E. Jean Carroll, 79 years old.
This is indicated by the verdict that the New York jury that heard his case reached in record time today.
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This is the first time that Trump (76 years old and aspiring to a new term) has been sentenced after leaving the presidency of the country, although last January his company, the Trump Organization, sentenced her to pay 1.61 million dollars for a tax evasion scheme.
Carroll accused Trump of having raped her in the fitting room of a New York department store in the mid-1990s, and also of defaming her when she decided to make her complaint public in a book she published in 2019.
The judge warned that he would not admit shouting or applause at the time of pronouncing the verdict, and the complainant Carroll, who also attended this last session, did not show any immediate reaction.
He also advised the jury that, although they are no longer required to remain anonymous from now on, they refrain from revealing their role in the trial or giving information about its course.
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Rape
The jury had to rule on whether Trump was responsible (term used in civil cases) for rape, sexual abuse or groping, and the jury chose the second possibility, in addition to finding him responsible for defamation.
It also decided that Trump must compensate Carroll with a total of about 5 million dollars, of which 2 for the “damages” caused by Trump in that sexual assault and 2.7 million for what is related to his reputation.
As it is a case that runs through civil proceedings, there are no associated prison sentences.
The judge immediately addressed the lawyers and asked them if they had anything to add, to which both teams, defense attorneys and the prosecution, responded in the negative.
The writer Carroll, who has attended all the trial sessions showing great integrity, left the room without making any statements to the numerous journalists who besieged her as she left the courts.
Trump says verdict ‘disgraceful’
Shortly after the verdict was released, Trump called it “an embarrassment” on his Truth Social network account.
“I have no idea who this woman is. This verdict is a shame, the continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time, ”wrote the businessman in a brief message written entirely in capital letters on his social network, Truth Social, minutes after the news broke.
Trump has always maintained that he did not know Carroll, and given the fact that he was photographed with her on one occasion, he replied that at that time he was associated with hundreds of people at social events to whom he shook hands or kissed without doing so. know them.
He has systematically accused Carroll of being a “liar” and even “mentally ill” and of not seeking anything other than fame and notoriety with his complaint, an idea that his legal team has made central during the two weeks of the trial.
For its part, the Trump campaign team also made public a first reaction against the verdict.
“In jurisdictions wholly controlled by the Democratic Party, our nation’s judicial system is compromised by politicians of the extreme left. We have allowed completely fabricated and false claims by disturbed people to interfere in our elections, doing immense damage.”
With this, the campaign team recognizes that the verdict may have electoral effects for the 2024 presidential elections, in which Trump starts as a favorite against the re-election attempts of current President Joe Biden.
