Donald Trump’s request to reduce the amount of award damages and a new trial on E. Jean Carroll was rejected by a federal court judge in New York on Wednesday.
According to Kaplan, Trump’s claims that the $2 million judgment E.Jean Carroll received for the sexual assault was “excessive” are “completely unpersuasive.”
Similarly, Mr. Trump’s arguments on the defamation damages aren’t any stronger, Kaplan ruled, “There is no basis for disturbing the jury’s sexual assault damages.”
Trump request for new trial, smaller award
Carroll, 79, was not found to have established “by a preponderance of the evidence” that Trump had raped her in the changing room of a Manhattan department shop in the middle of the 1990s, according to the nine-member jury’s verdict in May.
This was the basis of Trump’s request for a new trial or a smaller award.
The jury did find Trump accountable for sexual abuse, which was one of Carroll’s battery claims.
Trump’s attorneys argued to the Judge that the damages award was disproportionate since the decision may have been based on allegations of “groping of Plaintiff’s breasts through clothing or similar conduct, which is a far cry from rape,” among other things.
There was “absolutely no evidence” that Mr. Trump had touched Ms. Carroll’s breasts, either through her clothing or otherwise, according to Kaplan, who called that argument “frivolous.”
No way says Judge
According to the magazine writer’s testimony, Trump only had sex with her once, when he pierced her with his fingers and then his penis.
“The jury’s finding of sexual abuse therefore necessarily implies that it found that Mr. Trump forcibly penetrated her,” the court ruled. As a result, the damages are not excessive.
According to a statement from Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan, her client “looks forward to receiving the $5 million in damages that the jury awarded her.”
She also anticipates bringing up what Trump did to her during the trial in a subsequent civil defamation case against him, which will get underway in January 2024.
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