Skip to content
NOWCAST WXII 12 News at 8 a.m. Saturday
Watch on Demand
Advertisement

Trump appealing $5 million judgment in E. Jean Carroll civil suit

Trump appealing $5 million judgment in E. Jean Carroll civil suit
FROM THE FORMER PRESIDENT TONIGHT JOHN. WELL, ED, HE CALLS THE VERDICT A DISGRACE AND PART OF A WITCH HUNT. THE CASE DATES BACK TO THE MID 1990S AND TODAY THE JURY SIDED WITH HIS ACCUSER. THEY’RE VERY HAPPY. AND CAROL’S ATTORNEY SAYING THEY’RE VERY HAPPY AS THEY WALK OUT OF THE COURTHOUSE CAROL, HERSELF SMILING AS THEY WALK AWAY AFTER THE EMOTIONAL TRIAL. AND IT’S ARGUABLE HERE THAT IT’S THE FIRST TIME THAT THE PRESIDENT IS BEING HELD ACCOUNTABLE IN ANY COURTROOM SETTING OR THE COURT OF PUBLIC OPINION FOR SOMETHING THAT HE SAID THAT WAS UNTRUE. THE JURY TOOK LESS THAN THREE HOURS TO CONSIDER THE EVIDENCE FINDING FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP LIABLE OF SEXUAL ABUSE AND DEFAMATION, BUT NOT LIABLE FOR RAPE. TRUMP DID NOT TESTIFY DURING THE TRIAL, BUT CARROLL’S LAWYERS SEIZED ON TRUMP’S OWN RECORDED WORDS. SHE’S NOT MY TYPE. IN A DEPOSITION VIDEO AND ON SOCIAL MEDIA, HE SAID EUGENE CARROLL WAS, QUOTE, NOT MY TYPE, BUT THEN MISTOOK A PHOTO OF CARROLL FOR HIS SECOND WIFE, MARLA MAPLES. YOU’RE SAYING MARLO’S IN THIS PHOTO? THAT’S MARLA? YEAH, THAT’S. THAT’S MY WIFE. WHICH ONE ARE YOU POINTING TO? YOU KNOW, HERE, CAROL, I O PERSON YOU JUST POINTED TO WAS IAN CARROLL. AFTER THE VERDICT, TRUMP POSTED, I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHO THIS WOMAN IS. THE VERDICT IS A DISGRACE. A CONTINUATION OF THE GREATEST WITCH HUNT OF ALL TIME. BUT THE JURY DID NOT AGREE WHICH NEWSCENTER 5 LEGAL ANALYST GREG HENNING SAYS SENDS A CLEAR MESSAGE WHEN THE PRESIDENT, THROUGH HIS DEPOSITIONS OR THROUGH HIS DEFENSE STRATEGY, DENIES OVER AND OVER AGAIN THESE CLAIMS, THE STRAIGHT UP DENIAL AND ACCUSATION THAT THE PERSON WHO’S MAKING THE CLAIM IS LYING IS NOT GOING TO WORK. NOW, TRUMP DID NOT TESTIFY IN THIS CASE. AND BECAUSE THIS WAS A CIVIL CASE, HE DOES NOT FACE ANY TIME BEHIND BARS. LIVE IN THE NEWSROOM, JOHN
Advertisement
Trump appealing $5 million judgment in E. Jean Carroll civil suit
Former President Donald Trump is appealing the $5 million judgment awarded by the Manhattan federal jury that found he sexually abused and defamed former magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll.Trump's lawyers filed the notice of appeal in the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday, hours after federal Judge Lewis Kaplan filed a written ruling endorsing the jury verdict and ordering Trump to pay Carroll the full sum. Kaplan presided over the civil trial in New York.Trump had previously indicated he planned to appeal.Carroll alleged Trump raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman department store in New York in the spring of 1996 and then defamed her when he denied her claim, said she wasn't his type and suggested she made up the story to boost sales of her book.The jury found him liable for battery based on the sexual assault claim, that he should pay about $2 million in damages to Carroll for the civil battery claim and that he should pay her nearly $3 million in damages for successfully proving her defamation claim against him.While the jury found that Trump sexually abused her, sufficient to hold him liable for battery, the jury did not find that Carroll proved he raped her.Trump denied all claims brought against him by Carroll and called the civil trial verdict "a total disgrace."Like any defendant in a civil case, Trump was not required to appear in court for trial or any proceedings and had a right not to testify in his own defense. He did not attend the trial, and his team contended the former president couldn't get a fair trial in New York City.During the trial, Carroll acknowledged she is a registered Democrat and thinks Trump was a terrible president, but testified that her political views have nothing to do with her case."I'm not settling a political score," Carroll testified. "I'm settling a personal score because he called me a liar repeatedly and it really has decimated my reputation. I'm a journalist -- the one thing I have to have is the trust of the readers."Trump's lawyer, in his closing argument earlier this week, told jurors he knew Trump was a divisive figure, but told them that shouldn't matter when reaching a verdict."People have very strong feelings about Donald Trump. That's obvious," attorney Joe Tacopina said. "There's a time and a secret place to do that: it's called a ballot box during an election."The verdict has no legal effect on Trump's presidential candidacy. The former president denied the accusations and made dismissive comments about Carroll a little more than 24 hours after the jury's finding during a CNN town hall in New Hampshire.

Former President Donald Trump is appealing the $5 million judgment awarded by the Manhattan federal jury that found he sexually abused and defamed former magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll.

Trump's lawyers filed the notice of appeal in the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday, hours after federal Judge Lewis Kaplan filed a written ruling endorsing the jury verdict and ordering Trump to pay Carroll the full sum. Kaplan presided over the civil trial in New York.

Advertisement

Trump had previously indicated he planned to appeal.

Carroll alleged Trump raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman department store in New York in the spring of 1996 and then defamed her when he denied her claim, said she wasn't his type and suggested she made up the story to boost sales of her book.

The jury found him liable for battery based on the sexual assault claim, that he should pay about $2 million in damages to Carroll for the civil battery claim and that he should pay her nearly $3 million in damages for successfully proving her defamation claim against him.

While the jury found that Trump sexually abused her, sufficient to hold him liable for battery, the jury did not find that Carroll proved he raped her.

Trump denied all claims brought against him by Carroll and called the civil trial verdict "a total disgrace."

Like any defendant in a civil case, Trump was not required to appear in court for trial or any proceedings and had a right not to testify in his own defense. He did not attend the trial, and his team contended the former president couldn't get a fair trial in New York City.

During the trial, Carroll acknowledged she is a registered Democrat and thinks Trump was a terrible president, but testified that her political views have nothing to do with her case.

"I'm not settling a political score," Carroll testified. "I'm settling a personal score because he called me a liar repeatedly and it really has decimated my reputation. I'm a journalist -- the one thing I have to have is the trust of the readers."

Trump's lawyer, in his closing argument earlier this week, told jurors he knew Trump was a divisive figure, but told them that shouldn't matter when reaching a verdict.

"People have very strong feelings about Donald Trump. That's obvious," attorney Joe Tacopina said. "There's a time and a secret place to do that: it's called a ballot box during an election."

The verdict has no legal effect on Trump's presidential candidacy. The former president denied the accusations and made dismissive comments about Carroll a little more than 24 hours after the jury's finding during a CNN town hall in New Hampshire.