E Jean Carroll Awarded $83.3m in Defamation Case Against Donald Trump

News comes from the source of Reader Wall that celebrated writer and previous advice columnist E Jean Carroll was granted a remarkable $83.3m by a NYC jury in her defamation lawsuit against former US president, Donald Trump.

Jury’s Verdict on Damages

The jury resolved that Trump must compensate Carroll $18.3m for damages and $65m for punitive damages owing to his damaging her reputation and causing emotional distress due to his misleading and harmful statements in 2019.

Details of Carroll’s Accusation

According to Carroll, in the mid-1990s, Trump assaulted her in a dressing room of a luxury department store in Manhattan. This claim was revealed in an extract from her book, ‘What Do We Need Men For? A Modest Proposal’, published by a New York magazine in June 2019.

Trump rebuffed the allegation, by labeling Carroll as a fibber, a political agent, and a nonentity. He even implied that she wasn’t his type and that he had never encountered her, irrespective of a photograph indicating their presence together at a party in 1987.

Carroll’s Legal Movements

In November 2019, Carroll sued Trump for defamation, affirming that he had smeared her character and negatively impacted her career. She also initiated a different lawsuit in January 2022, alleging that Trump had sexually violated her and defamed her yet again post his term.

The sexual assault lawsuit was the first to go to trial, and in June 2022, the jury deemed Trump guilty and instructed him to pay Carroll damages of $5m. The judge presiding over both cases, Lewis Kaplan, ruled that the jury’s verict in the initial trial would be accepted as fact in the following trial, meaning that Trump was unable to challenge Carroll’s rape claim again.

Extent of Defamatory Harm

The second trial concentrated on the degree of harm Trump’s defamatory assertions caused to Carroll’s reputation and the amount that could deter him from reiterating such conduct.

Carroll informed the court that Trump’s deceit ruined her reputation as a journalist and an author, bringing her feelings of humiliation, violation, and fear. She stated that she had been sent death threats, lost employment opportunities and had been subjected to depression and anxiety.

Statements in Court

Carroll strongly held her position in court. She said, “I’m here because Donald Trump attacked me, and when I published it, he denied it ever happened.”

Trump failed to attend the first trial, however, he appeared for the second. His court behavior was irregular and distracting – he persistently disrupted proceedings, yelled at the judge and lawyers, and posted provocative messages on his social media platform, Truth Social.

Trump’s Reaction to the Verdict

Following the verdict, Trump criticized it as “absolutely ridiculous” and declared he would appeal against it.

Carroll’s Reaction

On the other hand, Carroll professed she felt “overjoyed” and “grateful” for the jury’s decision and expressed hope it would encourage other victims of sexual violence to come forward and seek justice.