A jury awarded $83.3 million in huge additional damages on Friday to longtime advice columnist E. Jean Carroll from former President Donald Trump, who she says shattered her reputation and opened her to threats by calling her a liar who only accused him of sexual assault to sell a memoir.
The award, when coupled with a $5 million sexual assault and defamation verdict last year from another jury in a case brought by Carroll, raised to $88.3 million what Trump must pay her. Protesting vigorously, he said he would appeal.
Carroll clutched her lawyers91裸聊视频� hands and smiled as the seven-man, two-woman jury delivered its verdict. Emotional afterward, she shared a three-way hug with her attorneys. She declined comment as she left the Manhattan federal courthouse.
Trump had left the courthouse about a half hour before the verdict was read. He had remained for more than two hours while the jury deliberated.
91裸聊视频淎bsolutely ridiculous!91裸聊视频� he said in a statement shortly afterward. 91裸聊视频淥ur Legal System is out of control, and being used as a Political Weapon.91裸聊视频�
Jurors deliberated less than three hours after the two-week trial.
It was the second time in nine months that a civil jury returned a verdict related to Carroll91裸聊视频檚 claim that a flirtatious, chance encounter with Trump in 1996 at Bergdorf Goodman91裸聊视频檚 Fifth Avenue store ended violently. She said Trump slammed her against a dressing room wall, pulled down her tights and forced himself on her.
In May, a different jury awarded Carroll $5 million. It found Trump not liable for rape, but responsible for sexually abusing Carroll and then defaming her by claiming she made it up. He is appealing that award, too.
Trump is also awaiting a verdict in a New York civil fraud trial, where state lawyers are seeking the return of $370 million in what they say were ill-gotten gains from loans and deals made using financial statements that exaggerated his wealth.
As for Trump91裸聊视频檚 ability to pay, he reported having about $294 million in cash or cash equivalents on his most recent annual financial statement, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2021. Testifying at his civil fraud trial last November, he Trump boasted: 91裸聊视频淚 have very little debt, and I have a lot of cash.91裸聊视频�
Trump skipped the first Carroll trial. He later expressed regret for not attending and insisted on testifying in the second trial, though the judge limited what he could say, ruling he had missed his chance to argue that he was innocent. He spent only a few minutes on the witness stand Thursday, during which he denied attacking Carroll, then left court grumbling 91裸聊视频渢his is not America.91裸聊视频�
This new jury was only asked how much Trump, 77, should pay Carroll, 80, for two statements he made as president when he answered reporters91裸聊视频� questions after excerpts of Carroll91裸聊视频檚 memoir were published in a magazine 91裸聊视频� damages that couldn91裸聊视频檛 be decided earlier because of legal appeals. Jurors were not asked to re-decide the issue of whether the sex attack actually happened.
Carroll91裸聊视频檚 attorneys had requested $24 million in compensatory damages and 91裸聊视频渁n unusually high punitive award.91裸聊视频� The jury awarded $18.3 million in compensatory damages and another $65 million in punitive damages 91裸聊视频� meant to deter future behavior.
Carroll91裸聊视频檚 lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, urged jurors in her closing argument Friday to punish Trump enough that he would stop a steady stream of public statements smearing Carroll as a liar and a 91裸聊视频渨hack job.91裸聊视频�
Trump shook his head vigorously as Kaplan spoke, then suddenly stood and walked out, taking Secret Service agents with him. His exit came only minutes after the judge, without the jury present, threatened to send Trump attorney Alina Habba to jail for continuing to talk when he told her she was finished.
91裸聊视频淵ou are on the verge of spending some time in the lockup. Now sit down,91裸聊视频� the judge told Habba, who immediately complied.
The trial reached its conclusion as Trump marches toward winning the Republican presidential nomination a third consecutive time. He has sought to turn his various trials and legal vulnerabilities into an advantage, portraying them as evidence of a weaponized political system.
Though there91裸聊视频檚 no evidence that President Joe Biden or anyone in the White House has influenced any of the legal cases against him, Trump91裸聊视频檚 line of argument has resonated with his most loyal supporters who view the proceedings with skepticism.
Carroll testified early in the trial that Trump91裸聊视频檚 public statements had led to death threats.
91裸聊视频淗e shattered my reputation,91裸聊视频� she said. 91裸聊视频淚 am here to get my reputation back and to stop him from telling lies about me.91裸聊视频�
She said she91裸聊视频檇 had an electronic fence installed around the cabin in upstate New York where she lives, warned neighbors of the threats and bought bullets for a gun she keeps by her bed.
91裸聊视频淧reviously, I was known as simply as a journalist and had a column, and now I91裸聊视频檓 known as the liar, the fraud, and the whack job,91裸聊视频� Carroll testified.
Trump91裸聊视频檚 lawyer, Habba, told jurors that Carroll had been enriched by her accusations against Trump and achieved fame she had craved. She said no damages were warranted.
To support Carroll91裸聊视频檚 request for millions in damages, Northwestern University sociologist Ashlee Humphreys told the jury that Trump91裸聊视频檚 2019 statements had caused between $7.2 million and $12.1 million in harm to Carroll91裸聊视频檚 reputation.
When Trump finally testified, Kaplan gave him little room to maneuver, because Trump could not be permitted to try to revive issues settled in the first trial.
91裸聊视频淚t is a very well-established legal principle in this country that prevents do-overs by disappointed litigants,91裸聊视频� Kaplan said.
91裸聊视频淗e lost it and he is bound. And the jury will be instructed that, regardless of what he says in court here today, he did it, as far as they91裸聊视频檙e concerned. That is the law,91裸聊视频� Kaplan said shortly before Trump testified.
After he swore to tell the truth, Trump was asked if he stood by a deposition in which he called Carroll a 91裸聊视频渓iar91裸聊视频� and a 91裸聊视频渨hack job.91裸聊视频� He answered: 91裸聊视频�100 percent. Yes.91裸聊视频�
Asked if he denied the allegation because Carroll made an accusation, he responded: 91裸聊视频淭hat91裸聊视频檚 exactly right. She said something, I consider it a false accusation.91裸聊视频� Asked if he ever instructed anyone to hurt Carroll, he said: 91裸聊视频淣o. I just wanted to defend myself, my family, and frankly, the presidency.91裸聊视频�
The judge ordered the jury to disregard the 91裸聊视频渇alse accusation91裸聊视频� comment and everything Trump said after 91裸聊视频淣o91裸聊视频� to the last question.
Earlier in the trial, Trump tested the judge91裸聊视频檚 tolerance. When he complained to his lawyers about a 91裸聊视频渨itch hunt91裸聊视频� and a 91裸聊视频渃on job91裸聊视频� within earshot of jurors, from the courtroom if it happened again. 91裸聊视频淚 would love it,91裸聊视频� Trump said. Later that day, Trump told a news conference Kaplan was a 91裸聊视频渘asty judge.91裸聊视频�
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