E. Jean Carroll defamation case: Judge denies Trump's motion for mistrial

Donald Trump's lies about E. Jean Carroll "unleashed his followers to go after her," and as Trump campaigns for president he "continues to lie about Ms. Carroll," Carroll's attorney said in her opening statement.

"How much money will it take to make him stop?" Carroll's attorney, Shawn Crowley, said. "He kept up those very same lies even after a federal jury sat in this courtroom and unanimously found that he sexually assaulted her and defamed her."

Crowley reminded the jury that Trump "was president when he made those statements and he used the world's biggest microphone to humiliate her" -- the result of which was that he "wrecked" Carroll's reputation in a matter of days, Crowley said.

"Donald Trump's response was swift and brutal," Crowley said. "Donald Trump did not just deny the assault. He went much, much further."

She quoted Trump's statements from June 22, 2019: "'People should pay dearly for making up accusations" about him.

Crowley also quoted Trump saying "she's not my type" on that day in 2019. "In other words, she was too ugly to assault. She must have been lying because she was too unattractive for Mr. Trump to sexually assault," Crowley said.

Carroll, who is now 80, sat at the plaintiff's table as her attorney showed the jury messages Trump's followers posted calling her ugly and urging her to kill herself.

"When Donald Trump called Ms. Carroll a fraud and a liar, they listened and they believed and they decided to go after her," Crowley said. "Donald Trump knew exactly what he was unleashing."

Judge Lewis Kaplan told the nine jurors that they must accept as true that Trump forcibly sexually assaulted E. Jean Carroll and defamed her when he denied it.

"Ms. Carroll did not make up her claim of forcible sexual abuse," Judge Kaplan told the panel. "His false statements tended to disparage Ms. Carroll or tended to expose her to hatred or to induce an unsavory opinion of her."

The judge made it clear the jury was only determining damages related to two defamatory statements Trump made in June 2019 when he denied Carroll's rape allegation. He said the trial was not an opportunity to re-litigate the prior trial, in which a jury found Trump liable for defamation and sexual assault.

"This trial is not a do-over of the previous trial which determined those facts," Kaplan said.

Former President Trump has departed Manhattan federal court prior to the delivery of opening statements in his defamation damages trial.

Trump voluntarily showed up to court for jury selection this morning, and did not return after the lunch break. He has a campaign event scheduled later today in New Hampshire.

His attorney suggested Trump would return to court for at least part of tomorrow's proceedings, when E. Jean Carroll is expected to be the first witness.

The jury has been sworn in, with opening statements to begin following instructions from the judge.

A jury of nine has been selected to hear the evidence in the case.

One juror is a married father of two grown children who works in the subway system. and said he is an avid local news viewer. Another juror is a German native who emigrated to the United States and said she does not watch the news.

The jury also includes a newlywed who works in property management and gets his news from social media, a woman with a master's degree who works as a publicist for a tech firm, and a single man who works in television.

Two people who said they believed that the election was stolen from Donald Trump by President Joe Biden did not make the jury. Nor did a man who said he believed Trump was being treated unfairly by the United States court system.

Opening arguments will begin follow the lunch break. As they exited the courtroom, Trump and Carroll came within feet of each other but appeared to ignore one another.