Carroll's legal team maintains that verdict was well-founded and Trump cannot escape consequences of his actions
Former US President Donald Trump is seeking a new trial in a civil case brought against him by writer E. Jean Carroll. In the previous trial, a jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming Carroll and awarded her $5 million in damages.
Trump's lawyers argue that the jury's awards are excessive and
based on speculation.
The defense claims that the $2 million
awarded for the sexual abuse portion of the verdict is too high because the
jury did not find that Carroll was raped, and her alleged experiences did
not cause a diagnosed mental injury. They also argue that the $2.7 million
awarded for defamation is unsupported speculation.
Carroll's attorney dismissed Trump's arguments as frivolous,
saying that the jury carefully considered the evidence and unanimously found
Trump guilty of sexual abuse. They pointed out that Trump did not present
any witnesses of his own during the trial.
Carroll, a former
advice columnist, filed a lawsuit in 2022 alleging that Trump raped her in
the mid-1990s and defamed her by denying it. The trial included testimonies
from Carroll's friends and other women who claimed Trump assaulted them
under similar circumstances. Trump's lawyers argued that Carroll's narrative
was implausible and lacked supporting evidence for her damages claims.
This
case is not the first legal battle between Carroll and Trump. She previously
filed a defamation lawsuit in 2019, which has been delayed due to questions
about Trump's immunity as a former president. Carroll sought to amend this
lawsuit to include additional damages over Trump's recent comments, where he
called the case a "complete con job."
Trump, who is currently
running for the 2024 presidential campaign as a Republican candidate, denies
the allegations and has appealed the verdict. The judge has yet to rule on
Carroll's request to amend her lawsuit.
