A New York jury has decided that Donald Trump is responsible for the sexual abuse of writer E Jean Carroll. Ms. Carroll, who is 79 years old, sued the former president for raping her in a dressing room at the Bergdorf Goodman store in Manhattan in 1996 and then "destroying" her name by saying she was lying.
The judges decided that Mr. Trump wasn't responsible for raping Ms. Carroll. In the hearing, the clerk read out the verdict: "As to battery, did Ms. Carroll prove that Mr. Trump raped Ms. Carroll?" The judges gave a "no" answer.
Ms. Carroll and two other women, Jessica Leeds and Natasha Stoynoff, told the jury that Mr. Trump had sexually assaulted them in very detailed ways. Ms. Carroll's lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, told the jury on Monday that Mr. Trump's "grab em by the pussy" words on the Access Hollywood tape were like a "confession."
Ms. Kaplan also said that Ms. Carroll "was exactly" Mr. Trump's type and that he had sexually assaulted her in the same way that he had said he treated women on the infamous tape. She said, "Donald Trump is, in a way, a witness against himself."
Elle magazine advice writer Ms. Carroll first talked about the sexual assault in June 2019 in a book excerpt that ran in New York magazine.
Ms. Carroll told the jury over the course of three days of hearing that she and Mr. Trump had joked around after meeting by chance at Bergdorf Goodman one evening in the mid-1990s.
But after taking an escalator up to an empty 6th floor to look for lingerie, Mr. Trump led her to a dressing room, pushed her up against a wall, and sexually attacked her.
Ms. Carroll told the judges that it was very painful. "He put his hand inside me and bent his finger. I can still feel it as I sit here today. Ms. Carroll added a battery charge because New York just passed a law that lets people who have been sexually abused sue their accused attackers even though the statute of limitations has passed. She said that the traumatic event had made her unable to make love connections.
The writer said that she would get a "wave of slime" on social media every time Mr. Trump said something about her claims or wrote about them.
Since the case was heard in civil court, the jury had to decide that Ms. Carroll's lawyers had shown Trump was responsible for battery and defamation by a preponderance of evidence.
A clinical psychologist named Leslie Lebowitz said that Ms. Carroll had signs of post-traumatic stress disorder and had a panic attack after seeing an episode of The Apprentice, which was hosted by Trump.
Ms. Lebowitz said that Mr. Trump's fans sent death threats to Ms. Carroll, so she slept with a loaded gun in her cabin in upstate New York. Mr. Trump did not appear in the case, but his deposition, in which he mixed up his second wife Marla Maples with Ms. Carroll, was shown to the jury.
The judges decided that Mr. Trump wasn't responsible for raping Ms. Carroll. In the hearing, the clerk read out the verdict: "As to battery, did Ms. Carroll prove that Mr. Trump raped Ms. Carroll?" The judges gave a "no" answer.
Ms. Carroll and two other women, Jessica Leeds and Natasha Stoynoff, told the jury that Mr. Trump had sexually assaulted them in very detailed ways. Ms. Carroll's lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, told the jury on Monday that Mr. Trump's "grab em by the pussy" words on the Access Hollywood tape were like a "confession."
Ms. Kaplan also said that Ms. Carroll "was exactly" Mr. Trump's type and that he had sexually assaulted her in the same way that he had said he treated women on the infamous tape. She said, "Donald Trump is, in a way, a witness against himself."
Elle magazine advice writer Ms. Carroll first talked about the sexual assault in June 2019 in a book excerpt that ran in New York magazine.
Ms. Carroll told the jury over the course of three days of hearing that she and Mr. Trump had joked around after meeting by chance at Bergdorf Goodman one evening in the mid-1990s.
But after taking an escalator up to an empty 6th floor to look for lingerie, Mr. Trump led her to a dressing room, pushed her up against a wall, and sexually attacked her.
Ms. Carroll told the judges that it was very painful. "He put his hand inside me and bent his finger. I can still feel it as I sit here today. Ms. Carroll added a battery charge because New York just passed a law that lets people who have been sexually abused sue their accused attackers even though the statute of limitations has passed. She said that the traumatic event had made her unable to make love connections.
The writer said that she would get a "wave of slime" on social media every time Mr. Trump said something about her claims or wrote about them.
Since the case was heard in civil court, the jury had to decide that Ms. Carroll's lawyers had shown Trump was responsible for battery and defamation by a preponderance of evidence.
A clinical psychologist named Leslie Lebowitz said that Ms. Carroll had signs of post-traumatic stress disorder and had a panic attack after seeing an episode of The Apprentice, which was hosted by Trump.
Ms. Lebowitz said that Mr. Trump's fans sent death threats to Ms. Carroll, so she slept with a loaded gun in her cabin in upstate New York. Mr. Trump did not appear in the case, but his deposition, in which he mixed up his second wife Marla Maples with Ms. Carroll, was shown to the jury.
