Another legal victory for the writer who won the sexual abuse lawsuit against former President Trump

2023-09-06 22:53:16, Kosova & Bota CNA

Another legal victory for the writer who won the sexual abuse lawsuit against

Four months after a jury ruled that former President Donald Trump sexually abused and defamed author E. Jean Carroll, a federal judge ruled Wednesday that some of the former president's further comments about her were defamatory. The ruling means another trial will deal only with the damages the former president must pay Ms Carroll.

This decision significantly clarifies the second trial, which is set to be held in January. The case concerns comments Mr. Trump made in 2019 after Ms. Carroll first publicly alleged that he sexually assaulted her in a dressing room after a chance encounter in a luxury clothing store in 1996. He denies that anything happened between them.

The first trial, held this spring, concerned allegations of sexual assault and whether comments made by Mr. Trump in 2022 were defamatory. The jury awarded Ms. Carroll $5 million in damages, finding that she had been sexually abused, but dismissing the charge that she had been raped.

"The jury considered and decided on aspects of both cases — including whether Mr. Trump wrongfully accused Ms. Carroll of fabricating the sexual allegations, and if that was the case, did he act aware that the allegations were false," or if he acted with irresponsibility toward the truth, Judge Lewis Kaplan wrote in Wednesday's ruling.

Another legal victory for the writer who won the sexual abuse lawsuit against

During the trial in May 2023

The judge wrote that the content of the 2019 and 2022 statements was the same. And when the jury decided that Mr. Trump did indeed sexually abuse Ms. Carroll, it also effectively determined that his 2019 statements were false and defamatory, the judge said.

Ms. Carroll and her lawyers "welcome the conduct of a trial limited to damages for the initial statements made by Donald Trump," said lawyer Roberta Kaplan, who is not related to Judge Kaplan.

Former President Trump's lawyer, Alina Habba, said Wednesday that his legal team is confident the jury's verdict will be overturned, casting doubt on the validity of the judge's new ruling. Mr. Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination for president, is seeking a stay of the second lawsuit as he waits for an appeals court to decide whether he has legal immunity from the lawsuit. such. Mr. Trump claims to have immunity because he was in the office of the president when he made the comments in 2019./ VOA