Donald Trump must pay E Jean Carroll $83.3m for defamation
A New York jury has decided Donald Trump should pay $83.3m (£65m) for defaming columnist E Jean Carroll in 2019 while he was US president.
Donald Trump & MS Jean Carroll Img
A New York jury has decided Donald Trump should pay $83.3m (£65m) for defaming columnist E Jean Carroll in 2019 while he was US president.
The jury’s penalty in the civil trial is made up of $ 18.3 million for compensatory damages and $ 65 million in punitive damages.
In a prior legal action, it was determined that Mr. Trump had sexually abused Ms. Carroll in the 1990s and defamed her.
Pledging to file an appeal, he described the verdict as “absolutely ridiculous” describing the case as a witch hunt.
The jury in the most recent trial was simply asked to determine whether Ms. Carroll should receive any compensation at all.
In addition, the panel had to come up with a punitive action that would discourage Mr. Trump from criticizing her in the future.
The seven-man, two-woman jury took less than three hours to deliberate and render a decision on Friday afternoon.
In addition, Mr. Trump, who appears destined to be the Republican nominee for president in November, is charged with four felonies, for a total of ninety-one felonies.
He is the only president in US history to face criminal charges, although he has either entered a not-guilty plea or refuted all of the allegations.
“This is a huge defeat for every bully who has tried to keep a woman down and a great victory for every woman who stands up when she’s been knocked down,” Ms. Carroll said in a statement following the jury’s verdict on Friday.
According to a statement released by her lawyer, Robbie Kaplan, “Today’s verdict proves that the law applies to everyone in our country, even the rich, even the famous, even former presidents.”
Even on Friday morning, Mr. Trump has denied any misconduct and has refuted even having met Ms. Carroll.
However, after the verdict, he held back from going after her when he criticized the decision in a post on his social media site, Truth Social.
“I will be appealing this entire Biden Directed Witch Hunt centered on me and the Republican Party. I fully disagree with both verdicts,” he tweeted.
Adding;
“This IS NOT AMERICA!”
“The legal system in our country is out of control and getting used for political purposes. Every First Amendment right has been taken away by them.
In a civil lawsuit held last year, it was discovered that Mr. Trump had molested Ms. Carroll, a magazine columnist, in a changing room of a Bergdorf Goodman department shop during the 1990s.
He was also sentenced to pay her approximately $5 million in damages after the jury determined that he had defamed her by calling her charges untrue.
The case, which concluded on Friday, centered on various disparaging remarks made by Mr. Trump in 2019.
Mr. Trump was not present to hear the verdict because he had abruptly left the court earlier in the day with his Secret Service protection detail.
Judge Kaplan’s threat to put Mr. Trump’s attorney, Alina Habba, in jail for speaking after he had instructed her to stop was the immediate cause of his departure.
