Trump loses appeal of $5 million verdict in E. Jean Carroll sex abuse trial

John Annese, New York Daily News on Dec 30, 2024

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NEW YORK — A federal appeals court has upheld a $5 million verdict against Donald Trump for sexually abusing and defaming magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll.

A three-judge panel at the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan ruled Monday that Judge Lewis Kaplan didn’t get it wrong when he allowed two other women accusing Trump of sexual misconduct to take the stand, and let the jury hear the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape.

Carroll accused Trump of raping her in the dressing room in a Bergdorf Goodman changing room and defaming her on Truth Social after his presidency.

“Both E. Jean Carroll and I are gratified by today’s decision. We thank the Second Circuit for its careful consideration of the parties’ arguments,” said Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan.

A nine-person jury in May 2023 didn’t find Trump liable for rape, but it found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation.

In January, a second jury that only considered damages determined Trump owed Carroll an additional $83.3 million for the comments he made as president, which accused her of lying about the assault to sell a book. Trump is also appealing that verdict.

On Monday, the appeals court found Judge Kaplan was correct to allow testimony from Jessica Leeds and Natasha Stoyoff, two of 26 women who have accused Trump of sexual assault.

The appeals court also ruled that the “Access Hollywood” tape — in which Trump famously bragged, “When you’re a star they let you do it. You can do anything…. Grab them by the p—y” — showed a pattern of conduct by the president-elect.

“Mr. Trump’s statements in the tape, together with the testimony of Ms. Leeds and Ms. Stoynoff … establish a repeated, idiosyncratic pattern of conduct consistent with what Ms. Carroll alleged,” the judges wrote.

“In each of the three encounters, Mr. Trump engaged in an ordinary conversation with a woman he barely knew, then abruptly lunged at her in a semi-public place and proceeded to kiss and forcefully touch her without her consent. The acts are sufficiently similar to show a pattern or ‘recurring modus operandi.'”

Trump’s appellate lawyer, John Sauer, argued in September that Carroll was being “funded and encouraged” by Trump’s political enemies, prompting one of the appellate panel judges to interrupt him and note that was not relevant to the appeal.

Carroll, a longtime advice columnist, testified for almost three days at the 2003 trial, recounted the attack, and the death threats and abuse she’d faced after speaking out.

She and Trump bumped into each other by the Fifth Ave. luxury department store’s revolving doors, she testified, and he invited her to help him pick out lingerie for an unnamed girlfriend. When they reached the changing rooms on an unoccupied floor, Trump closed the door, pushed her against a wall, and started kissing her without consent.

Carroll testified Trump became increasingly violent and molested her with his hand before pulling down her tights and raping her.

Jurors determined Carroll’s lawyers did not prove by a majority of the evidence that Trump raped her, though they found he forcibly penetrated her with his fingers.

The defamation part of the $5 million verdict based on an Oct. 12, 2022, Truth Social post in which Trump said he didn’t know Carroll and that her allegations were “a hoax and a lie.”

In comments to reporters at a September press conference, Trump claimed Carroll “fabricated” the sexual assault because she was “looking to promote a book,” and said, “I should be suing her for defamation.” His remarks were similar to the statements he made during his first term as president and after that led to the two blockbuster defamation verdicts.

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung also referred to the case as a “hoax” in a statement about the appeals court decision Monday.

“The American People have re-elected President Trump with an overwhelming mandate, and they demand an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and a swift dismissal of all of the Witch Hunts, including the Democrat-funded Carroll Hoax, which will continue to be appealed,” Cheung said.

The case was among the first filed under the Adult Survivors Act, historic legislation lifting the statute of limitations to bring sex assault claims for one year.