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

A jury ordered Donald Trump to pay Carroll $83 million for defaming her.

Last Updated: January 17, 2024, 8:18 PM EST

Former President Donald Trump, at the end of a five-day trial, has been ordered to pay $83.3 million in damages to former Elle magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll for defaming her in 2019 when he denied her allegations of sexual abuse.

Last year, in a separate trial, a jury determined that Trump was liable for sexually abusing Carroll in the dressing room of a Manhattan department store in the 1990s, and that he defamed her in a 2022 social media post by calling her allegations "a Hoax and a lie" and saying "This woman is not my type!"

Trump has denied all wrongdoing and has said he doesn't know who Carroll is.

Jan 17, 2024, 4:53 PM EST

Carroll agrees she did not shy away from publicity

E. Jean Carroll conceded on cross-examination that she anticipated "blowback" would follow the publication of her rape allegation against then-President Trump, and that she did not shy away from publicity that she now says has shattered her reputation.

"You've continued to publicize every lawsuit you had against President Trump?" defense attorney Alina Habba asked.

"Yes," Carroll responded. "Because I wanted people to know that a woman can speak up and win a trial. I wanted people to know. I'm 80. I don't want to be quiet. It's not right to make a woman be quiet. It has gone on for too long."

The defense has been trying to portray Carroll as an attention-loving woman who is overplaying her emotional accounts of how the backlash following her rape accusation affected her.

Carroll also said under questioning that she hosted watch parties in her lawyer's office that were attended by comedian Kathy Griffin and Trump's niece Mary Trump, both of whom are critics of the former president.

"Isn't Kathy Griffin known for holding up a severed head of President Trump?" Habba asked.

"Yes," Carroll said.

Court subsequently adjourned for the day, with Carroll scheduled to return to the witness stand on Thursday for additional cross-examination.

Jan 17, 2024, 4:24 PM EST

Judge promptly rejects defense request for mistrial

In the middle of E. Jean Carroll's cross-examination, former President Trump's defense attorney Alina Habba sought a mistrial, which the judge promptly denied.

Habba was questioning Carroll about threatening emails she said she received. Carroll said she deleted many of those messages because "I didn't know how to handle death threats. I thought deleting them was the easiest way to get them out of my life."

When Carroll said she had deleted some messages around the time of her earlier trial involving Trump, Habba asked for a mistrial, saying, "The witness has just admitted to deleting evidence herself."

Judge Kaplan immediately denied the request and said, "The jury will disregard everything Ms. Habba just said."

Habba also questioned whether Carroll received disparaging messages after publishing her account of the sexual assault at Bergdorf Goodman, but before Trump issued his denial.

"Some of the slime happened before the president issued his statement?" Habba asked.

"No," Carroll responded. "Because they were reacting to the White House statement."

Asked how she knew, Carroll said, "Because of the wording," prompting Habba to say, "So a denial from the White House would mean that any statement echoing it would be President Trump's fault?"

Jan 17, 2024, 2:46 PM EST

Cross-examination of Carroll stumbles at the start

The direct examination of E. Jean Carroll ended with her telling the jury she would "never get used to attacks" like the ones she has continued to endure from former President Trump and his followers.

"Was he posting about you as recently as yesterday? Carroll's attorney Roberta Kaplan asked regarding Trump.

"That's what I've been told," Carroll answered before she was shown a Truth Social post from Tuesday, during the lunch break, in which Trump called the trial a "fake case from a woman I've never met, seen or touched."

The cross-examination of Carroll began on a discordant note when defense attorney Alina Habba tried to confront Carroll with some of her testimony from an earlier deposition.

There was a dispute over whether Habba had properly told the judge which part of the deposition she intended to introduce.

"We're going to do it my way, Ms. Habba," Judge Kaplan said.

"Sure," Habba replied, abandoning that line of questioning.

Jan 17, 2024, 2:01 PM EST

Judge denies defense motion for him to recuse himself

Following the a lunch break, the defense team made an immediate motion for Judge Kaplan to recuse himself from the trial because of the "general hostility" defense attorney Michael Madaio said the judge has shown toward Trump's side.

Kaplan responded with a single word: "Denied."

Carroll is now returning to the witness stand to continue her testimony.

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