In a significant legal ruling, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the $5 million award granted to E. Jean Carroll for defamation and sexual abuse. The decision stems from a 2023 trial in which Carroll accused Donald Trump of assaulting her in a department store dressing room in the 1990s. Trump’s team plans to appeal further, dismissing the case as part of a political agenda.
BY PC Bureau
A federal appeals court upheld a jury’s verdict on Monday, confirming that Donald Trump sexually abused columnist E. Jean Carroll in the mid-1990s. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the Manhattan jury’s $5 million award to Carroll for defamation and sexual abuse, after she accused Trump of assaulting her in a department store dressing room in 1996.
During the 2023 trial, Carroll testified that a friendly interaction with Trump in the spring of 1996 turned violent when he attacked her in the dressing room. Trump, who consistently denied the allegations, skipped the trial but testified briefly at a follow-up defamation trial earlier this year. That trial led to a separate $83.3 million award for Carroll, stemming from comments Trump made in 2019 after Carroll first publicly accused him in a memoir.
NEW: Federal appeals court has ruled against Trump and upholds $5 Million Verdict for Sexually Abusing E. Jean Carroll
• If you read the opinion, they admit there was absolutely no evidence whatsoever he committed this crime, but because other woman made similar accusations, it… pic.twitter.com/VT8S8eaKzi
— MJTruthUltra (@MJTruthUltra) December 30, 2024
The appeals court rejected Trump’s legal team’s arguments that Judge Lewis A. Kaplan’s decisions compromised the trial. They had contested the inclusion of testimony from two other women who accused Trump of sexual abuse, as well as the admission of the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape, in which Trump boasted about groping women. The court affirmed that Trump had failed to prove any errors that would have warranted a new trial.
In September, both Trump and Carroll, now 81 and 78 respectively, attended the oral arguments for the appeal. Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump, dismissed the decision, claiming it was part of a political “witch hunt” funded by Democrats, and vowed to continue appealing the case. Meanwhile, Roberta Kaplan, Carroll’s attorney, expressed satisfaction with the decision, thanking the court for its thorough consideration.
NEW: Federal appeals court has ruled against Trump and upholds $5 Million Verdict for Sexually Abusing E. Jean Carroll
• If you read the opinion, they admit there was absolutely no evidence whatsoever he committed this crime, but because other woman made similar accusations, it… pic.twitter.com/VT8S8eaKzi
— MJTruthUltra (@MJTruthUltra) December 30, 2024
The jury in the May 2023 trial found that Trump sexually abused Carroll and defamed her with statements made in October 2022. In January, a second jury awarded Carroll an additional $83.3 million for defamation, after accepting the first jury’s finding that Trump had sexually assaulted her. Despite testifying for under three minutes during the second trial, Trump was visibly vocal in the courtroom, with jurors hearing him grumble throughout the proceedings.
