The Daily Star Ireland
A federal appeals court has upheld a $5 million (€4.8 million) verdict awarded to E. Jean Carroll against Donald Trump. This decision was made by a three-judge panel from the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan.
The May 2023 verdict relates to an incident from around 1996, where Carroll claimed Trump sexually abused her in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in Manhattan. Additionally, the verdict addressed an October 2022 post on Truth Social, where Trump dismissed Carroll’s allegations as a hoax.
Although the jury in Manhattan federal court did not find Trump guilty of rape, they awarded Carroll $2.02 million for sexual assault and $2.98 million for defamation.
In a separate case, another jury ordered Trump in January to pay Carroll $83.3 million for defaming her in June 2019, when he initially denied her rape accusation. Trump is currently appealing the $83.3 million (€80.1 million) verdict.
Carroll’s legal battles continue despite Trump’s recent victory in securing a second four-year term in the White House on November 5.
Referencing a 1997 US Supreme Court ruling involving former President Bill Clinton, it was established that sitting presidents do not have immunity from civil litigation in federal court for actions that occurred before and are unrelated to their presidential duties.
Trump’s legal team argued that the $5 million verdict should be dismissed because the trial judge allowed jurors to hear testimony from two other women who accused Trump of sexual misconduct. Businesswoman Jessica Leeds claimed Trump groped her on a plane in the late 1970s, and former People magazine writer Natasha Stoynoff stated that Trump forcibly kissed her at his Mar-a-Lago estate in 2005.
Trump’s lawyers also contended that the trial judge should not have permitted jurors to watch a 2005 “Access Hollywood” video in which Trump graphically described forcing himself on women.
Both trials were overseen by US District Judge Lewis Kaplan.
