Former President Donald Trump must pay author E. Jean Carroll more than $83 million in damages for repeatedly defaming her.
The nine-person jury began deliberations at 1:40 p.m. ET in federal court in New York and gave a verdict in just three hours.
The award included $11 million in damages to Carroll’s reputation, $7.3 million in emotional and other damages, and $65 million in punitive damages.
The decision was made after a dispute closing arguments He saw Trump storm out of the courtroom. He returned for his attorney’s closing arguments, but left the courthouse at 4 p.m. before the jury returned its verdict.
He wrote about it shortly after on his platform in the social network “Truth Social”. “Absolutely ridiculous!” wrote and added that he will apply. “They took away all of our First Amendment Rights. THIS IS NOT AMERICA!”
His lawyer, Alina Habba, later told reporters that the sentence “stinks” and the case is “one violation our justice system.”
Carroll did not comment as he left the courthouse.
Trump already happened was held responsible Because Carroll defamed her by mocking her claim that he sexually abused her while she was president, this jury was tasked only with determining how much damages she should be awarded.
Roberta Kaplan, Carroll’s attorney, asked the jury for at least $24 million in damages and “substantial sums” in punitive damages to stop him from continuing to defame her.
Trump, he said, “thinks the rules don’t apply to him.” “He thinks that with his wealth and power he can do whatever he wants with Ms. Carroll and get away with it,” he said, noting that he has continued to publicly criticize Carroll since he was first found guilty of defamation last year. He urged the jury to “make him pay for what he did to E. Jean Carroll.”
He also pointed to the jury several examples of Trump’s repeated firings at Carroll to reporters and social media since then $5 million verdict it was handed over in another case last year. Trump has posted about Carroll about three dozen times on his Truth Social site, even though the trial was adjourned earlier this week for Covid-related reasons.
Habba concluded that Carroll “failed to show that he was entitled to any damages” because he “actively sought the comments and attention he received.” He said Trump was not to blame for the number of threats he received online after going public. “It controls social media users like the weather,” he said.
Habba claimed in an expert report used by Carroll that his reputation had “more holes than Swiss cheese” and would cost $7 million to $12 million to repair. A jury awarded Carroll $11 million on that claim.
The trial began on January 16, and Trump was the last witness in the case. testified for less than five minutes.
The conviction is Carroll’s second conviction against Trump. Last year, a different jury indicted Trump for sexually abusing her at a New York department store in the 1990s and for defamation by mocking her claims after he left the White House. They rewarded him 5 million dollars Trump is appealing the compensation ruling.
US District Judge Lewis Kaplan held Trump responsible for defamation in the current case based on the results of that jury. That finding barred Trump from testifying that Carroll’s claim was a fabrication, but Trump still managed to do so in his brief. “I consider it a false accusation.
Megan Lebowitz contributed.