A federal appeals court has upheld a jury’s verdict finding that former President Donald Trump sexually abused writer E. Jean Carroll, rejecting Trump’s request for a new trial. The decision reaffirms the $5 million civil judgment awarded to Carroll earlier this year.
Trump challenged the verdict, claiming the trial judge made critical errors, including allowing testimony from two other women who accused him of sexual assault. However, the appeals court determined that the trial judge acted within his discretion. Even if any errors were made, the court concluded they were not significant enough to affect Trump’s rights or warrant a new trial.
“Both E. Jean Carroll and I are gratified by today’s decision. We thank the Second Circuit for its careful consideration of the parties’ arguments,” Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, said in a statement.
Carroll alleged that Trump raped her in the 1990s at Bergdorf Goodman, a high-end department store in Manhattan. She also claimed Trump defamed her when he denied the allegations, said she wasn’t his type, and accused her of fabricating the story to sell her book.
In the civil trial, the jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse, which met the legal standard for battery, but they did not conclude that Carroll had proven Trump raped her.
This lawsuit was filed under the New York State Adult Survivors Act, a law passed in 2022 that opened a one-year window for adult survivors of sexual assault to file civil claims, even if the statute of limitations had long expired.
In addition to the $5 million verdict for sexual abuse, a separate jury recently awarded Carroll $83.3 million in damages after finding that Trump defamed her by publicly denying the abuse. Trump has appealed that verdict as well.
It’s important to note that these are civil cases, meaning Trump does not face jail time as a result of the verdicts. He continues to deny all allegations of wrongdoing, maintaining that Carroll’s claims are false.
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