New York: After a political victory in the Iowa caucus, former President Donald Trump arrived at court Tuesday to face another legal challenge: a trial to determine how much more he owes the writer E Jean Carroll for denying that he sexually assaulted her in the 1990s and accusing her of lying about her claims. Jury selection is beginning at a federal court in Manhattan where Trump arrived in a motorcade shortly before 9 am, entering the building through a special entrance not usually used by the public. Opening arguments could take place by afternoon in what is essentially a second penalty phase of a legal fight Carroll has already won.
In May, a different jury awarded Carroll USD 5 million after concluding that Trump sexually abused her in a department store dressing room in the spring of 1996, then defamed her in 2022 by claiming she made it up after she revealed it publicly in a 2019 memoir. The jury said Carroll hadn't proven that Trump raped her. Trump is appealing and hasn't paid any of that award. One issue that wasn't decided in that first trial was how much Trump owed for comments he made about Carroll while he was still president. Determining that dollar amount will be the new jury's only job.
Judge Lewis A Kaplan ruled last year that the new jury didn't need to decide anew whether Carroll was sexually abused or whether Trump's remarks about her were defamatory since those subjects were covered in the first trial. Trump arrived separately but at the same time as Carroll on Tuesday. His plans for the rest of the week have become unclear since his mother-in-law's funeral was scheduled for Thursday. The trial is expected to last several days. He has said he wants to testify, but if he does there will be strict limits on what he can talk about. He did not attend last year's trial, saying recently that his lawyer advised against it.
Because the trial is supposed to be focused only on how much Trump owes Carroll, the judge has warned Trump and his lawyers that they cannot say things to jurors that he has said on the campaign trail or elsewhere, like claiming she lied about him to promote her memoir. Kaplan also banned them from saying anything about Carroll's “past romantic relationships, sexual disposition, and prior sexual experiences," from suggesting Trump didn't sexually abuse Carroll or from implying she was motivated by "a political agenda, financial interests, mental illness, or otherwise.”
They are also banned, the judge said, from advancing any argument inconsistent with the court's ruling that “Mr Trump, with actual malice, lied about sexually assaulting Ms Carroll.” Those restrictions don't apply outside of the presence of the jury. That has left Trump free to continue posting on social media about all of the above topics — something he has done repeatedly in recent days — although each fresh denial comes with the possibility of increasing damages he must pay.
Kaplan rejected Trump's request to delay the trial a week, although he said he would let Trump testify as late as Monday even if the trial is otherwise ready for closing arguments by Thursday. Carroll, 80, plans to testify about the damage to her career and reputation that resulted from Trump's public statements. She seeks USD 10 million in compensatory damages and millions more in punitive damages.
Trump, 77, is appealing the findings of last year's jury and has continued to maintain that he doesn't know Carroll, that he never met her at the Bergdorf Goodman store in midtown Manhattan in spring 1996 and that Carroll made up her claims to sell her book and for political reasons.
Regardless of his losses in court, Trump leads all Republicans in 2024 presidential primary polls and plans to spend plenty of time in court fighting the civil cases and four criminal cases against him, saying, “In a way, I guess you consider it part of the campaign.
(With inputs from agency)
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