Judges appear skeptical as Trump seeks new trial in E. Jean Carroll case

With Donald Trump sitting in the courtroom, a federal appeals court in New York appeared skeptical Friday of the former president's push for a new civil trial in the 2023 defamation and assault case brought by the writer by E. Jean Carroll, telling the defense it would be "very hard" to overturn the jury's verdict.

Trump, seated alone in court, said nothing during the short proceeding but warmly greeted sketch artist Jane Rosenberg upon entering the room. He did not appear to make eye contact with Carroll, seated just feet away.

A jury last May found Trump should pay $5 million for defaming and sexually assaulting Carroll in the mid-1990s in a department store dressing room, an outcome his attorney argued should not stand.

Trump attorney D. John Sauer called it "a quintessential 'he said, she said' case" that was "funded and encouraged by Donald Trump's political enemies" and a "textbook example of implausible allegations being propped up by highly inflammatory, inadmissible propensity evidence."

Judge Danny Chin cut Sauer short, saying, "It's very hard to overturn a jury verdict based on evidentiary rulings ... so why should we order a new trial here?"

Sauer reiterated his claim that there was "error in the admission" of the infamous "Access Hollywood tape," on which Trump is heard boasting of grabbing women, as well as the testimony of two women who alleged Trump assaulted them decades ago, which he denies.

One of those women, Jessica Leeds, had testified that Trump grabbed her chest and ran his hand up her skirt as they sat side-by-side in first class on a New York City-bound flight in the 1970s. Sauer argued Friday that it was "manifestly erroneous" to have allowed the jury to hear the testimony because what Trump was accused of doing was not explicitly considered a crime at the time.

Roberta Kaplan, an attorney for Carroll, suggested some of the arguments raised by Sauer overcomplicated the matters before the appellate panel, framing a dispute about the relevance of sexual assault case law as "too many lawyers trying to screw in a lightbulb." She argued that the testimony showed Trump's alleged propensity to assault women.

"He had a pattern of, kind of, pleasant chatting with a woman and then out of nowhere he would, for lack of a better term, pounce," Kaplan said -- prompting Trump, sitting at the defense table, to shake his head "no."

At one point during the oral argument Judge Chin chided Sauer, who was racing through his presentation, telling the attorney, "You're speaking so fast. Why don't you slow down a little bit?"

"It's an important case and I'm passionate about it," Sauer replied.

Trump, following the hearing, ignored a shouted question from ABC News about whether he was satisfied with his lawyer's argument.

The former president's appearance in the courtroom, in front of a three-judge panel of the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, was voluntary, not mandatory.

The panel did not immediately issue a ruling. Judge Myron Perez said the case would be taken under advisement.

Later Friday, in remarks to reporters, Trump again called Carroll's accusations "a made-up fabricated story by somebody just looking to promote a book" and said, "I would have had no interest in meeting her."

Kaplan, listening to Trump repeat some of the same statements that jurors found defamatory, told ABC News, "I've said it before and I’ll say it again: All options are on the table."

Carroll, who brought her lawsuit in November 2022, alleged that Trump defamed her in a 2022 Truth Social post by calling her allegations "a Hoax and a lie" and saying, "This woman is not my type!" when he denied her claim that Trump raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the 1990s.

The former Elle magazine columnist added a charge of battery under a New York law that allowed adult survivors of sexual abuse to sue their alleged attacker regardless of the statute of limitations. Trump has denied all allegations that he assaulted Carroll or defamed her.

"I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHO THIS WOMAN IS," Trump posted to his Truth Social platform following the verdict last May. "THIS VERDICT IS A DISGRACE - A CONTINUATION OF THE GREATEST WITCH HUNT OF ALL TIME!"

Trump is also appealing the outcome of a separate case by Carroll, related to the same allegations, in which a jury awarded her $83 million in damages.