A jury has found that former President Donald Trump is required to pay writer E. Jean Carroll more than $83 million in damages for repeatedly making defamatory statements about her.
The nine-person jury commenced deliberations in federal court in New York at 1:40 p.m. ET and swiftly reached a verdict in less than three hours.
The award consisted of $11 million for damage to Carroll's reputation, $7.3 million for emotional harm and other damages, and $65 million in punitive damages.
The decision was made following heated closing arguments, during which Trump abruptly left the courtroom. He attended his attorney's closing arguments but left the courthouse at 4 p.m., before the jury delivered its verdict. He quickly shared the news on his social media platform, Truth Social.
"This is absolutely absurd! They have taken away all First Amendment Rights. This is not America!" Trump expressed his intention to appeal.
Per NBC News, Carroll remained silent as she exited the courthouse. Trump had previously been held responsible for defaming Carroll during his presidency by ridiculing her accusation of sexual abuse. Therefore, this jury's sole responsibility was to determine the appropriate amount of damages she should receive.
Carroll's lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, requested the jury to award a minimum of $24 million in compensatory damages for the harm she endured. Additionally, she urged them to grant substantial punitive damages to deter any further defamation against her.
Throughout the night and into the next day, Trump took to Truth Social to express his strong opinions on the Carroll case. In a series of 17 posts or shares, he passionately criticized her credibility and questioned the judge's equality.
The jury awarded Carroll $18.3 million in compensatory damages, which included $11 million for a public relations campaign aimed at restoring her reputation, and $7.3 million for her pain and suffering.In addition to the $5 million that Trump was previously ordered to pay Carroll, he will now also have to pay defamation damages.
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Trump vs. E. Jean Carroll Defamation Case
This comes after a jury found him guilty of sexually abusing Carroll and defaming her in 2022, when he dismissed her accusation as a "con job."
The recent verdict pertains to Trump's initial denials back in 2019, when Carroll first made her allegations public about Trump raping her in a department store dressing room in the mid-1990s.
Carroll's legal team contended that Trump's extensive statements as president, in which he denied her accusation and insinuated that she fabricated it for personal gain, incited his supporters against her. A collection of messages was presented to the jury, purportedly showcasing the various attacks that Carroll has endured.
According to Carroll's testimony, she instinctively ducked when she came across a death threat from one of Trump's supporters. "I was filled with fear for my life," she recounted.
Per USA Today, Trump was absent from the initial defamation trial, but this time he made sure to be present for a significant portion of the proceedings. During his testimony on Thursday, he faced strict control from Judge Lewis Kaplan, who had previously determined that Trump could not deny assaulting Carroll based on the earlier verdict.
During the proceedings, Kaplan decided to remove the portion of the testimony where Trump vehemently denied Carroll's accusation, deeming it to be untrue.
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