By Jerald Jimenez
06 Mar 2024, 10:44 AM EST
Donald Trump’s lawyers filed two motions to challenge the ruling that forced the former president to pay more than $83 million to writer E. Jean Carroll, who accused him of defamation and sexual abuse.
Trump’s legal team sought a ruling in his favor, arguing that Carroll failed to prove that Trump’s statements caused him any harm. Trump’s lawyers claimed that the jury’s conclusions were based on “confusion, speculation or prejudice” rather than the “evidence presented at trial.”
In the other motion, Trump’s lawyers asked for a new trial, alleging that the court severely restricted the former president’s testimony, influencing the jury’s verdict. Trump’s lawyers noted that he made statements about Carroll in an effort to “defend his reputation, protect his family and defend his presidency.”
“Absolutely ridiculous! “I strongly disagree with both verdicts and will appeal this entire Biden-led witch hunt focused on me and the Republican Party,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “Our legal system is out of control and is being used as a political weapon. “They have taken away all of our First Amendment rights.”
Carroll, who was a columnist for Elle magazine, filed her lawsuit against Trump in November 2019, after he denied her account that he raped her at the Bergdorf Goodman department store, across from Trump Tower, sometime in 1996. The writer claimed that she met Trump by chance and that he asked her for help buying a gift for a woman. Carroll claimed that Trump dragged her into a fitting room, where he forcibly kissed her, pulled down her socks and raped her.
Millionaire deliberation unfavorable for Trump
The jury, made up of six men and three women, deliberated for two days before returning its verdict last May, finding that Trump was responsible for sexually abusing and defaming Carroll, and ordering him to pay $18.3 million in damages. compensatory and $65 million dollars in punitive damages.
The jury also awarded Carroll a reputation relief program, valued at $11 million. In total, the jury said Carroll should receive $83.3 million.
It was not the only trial Trump faced over Carroll’s accusations. In September 2023, federal Judge Lewis Kaplan issued a partial ruling in favor of Carroll, finding Trump liable for defamation for her 2019 statements, when he said Carroll was a “liar” and that he didn’t even tell her. knew.
Judge Kaplan ruled that Trump’s statements were false and harmful to Carroll’s reputation. In January 2024, a second jury determined that Trump must pay another $5 million to Carroll for this case.
Carroll, who was seeking $12 million in her original lawsuit, was pleased with the outcome of the trials and said she hoped her case would encourage other victims of sexual abuse to come forward.
With information from Fox News