Second Circuit Upholds $5 Million Verdict Against Trump in Carroll Case

The Second Circuit upheld a $5 million verdict against Trump for sexual assault and defamation claims by E. Jean Carroll, allowing evidence of other allegations.

On Monday, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a substantial $5 million judgment against President-elect Donald Trump in a case brought by writer E. Jean Carroll, who accused him of sexual assault and defamation.

This ruling comes after Trump attempted to challenge the initial verdict, arguing that the inclusion of evidence related to other alleged sexual assaults breached the Federal Rules of Evidence (FRE).

Evidence and Court Ruling

During the trial, the court allowed testimonies from two women who had made similar accusations against Trump, as well as a recorded conversation in which he spoke about sexual encounters that lacked consent.

According to Rule 415 of the FRE, evidence of a defendant’s past sexual offenses can be admitted in civil cases involving sexual misconduct allegations, marking an important exception to the general prohibition against using propensity evidence outlined in FRE Rule 404.

Trump’s legal representatives argued that the introduction of these additional allegations was inappropriate since the defamation suit did not itself claim sexual assault and therefore shouldn’t have been linked to Carroll’s accusations.

However, the appellate court rejected this line of reasoning, emphasizing that it was unnecessary to classify the claim specifically as sexual assault for it to connect to such allegations.

The court further noted that the jury had sufficient grounds to recognize a disturbing pattern of Trump’s unwanted and inappropriate conduct toward women he barely knew.

Trial Conditions and Defense Limitations

Additionally, Trump failed to convince the appellate judges to annul the jury’s decision by suggesting that the trial conditions were unfair.

He contended that the trial court had unfairly limited his defense, barring certain pieces of evidence and restricting his cross-examination of Carroll on specific matters.

Among the evidence he sought to include were claims alleging that one of his political rivals paid for Carroll’s legal representation and suggestions that she may have influenced the testimonies of other witnesses.

The topics he wished to probe included her claims about possessing Trump’s DNA, her choice not to formally report the alleged assault, and her lack of surveillance footage from the store where she claimed the event took place.

Background of the Case

E. Jean Carroll first filed her defamation suit against Trump in 2019 after he made statements that denied any allegations of assault against her.

In September 2023, she won a case related to Trump’s comments from 2019, while the appeal concerning his 2022 remarks is still pending.

This latest ruling follows a previous win for Trump, who had previously secured a $16 million defamation settlement against ABC, stemming from news anchor George Stephanopoulos’s assertion during an interview that Trump had been found liable for raping Carroll.

Source: Jurist