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: February 7, 2024, 4:38 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 26, 2024, 4:27 PM EST

Jury reaches verdict

The jury in former President Donald Trump's defamation damages case has reached a verdict.

The judge has called the parties back into the courtroom to hear the verdict read.

The jury will announce whether they have found E. Jean Carroll suffered damages as a result of Trump's statements, and, if so, how much they award Carroll in both compensatory and punitive damages.

Jan 26, 2024, 1:45 PM EST

Jury gets the case

Following Judge Lewis Kaplan's instructions to jury members, the jury has retired to deliberate.

The judge gave the parties 45 minutes to get lunch, so the court will not accept a jury note or a verdict until starting at 2:25 p.m. ET.

If there is no verdict by 4:30 p.m. ET, court will break for the day unless the jury signals a desire to stay later.

Jan 26, 2024, 1:19 PM EST

Trump attacks Carroll, judge on social media

Former President Trump has made a post to his social media account attacking E. Jean Carroll and Judge Lewis Kaplan as proceedings continue in his damages defamations trial.

Trump, who left the courtroom during the plaintiff's closing statements but returned for the defense closings, repeated his claim in the post that he had never met Carroll, and accused her and the judge of having political motives.

Jan 26, 2024, 12:56 PM EST

'He is not the victim,' Carroll's attorney says of Trump

In a brief rebuttal, Carroll's attorney Shawn Crowley accused Donald Trump's defense of advancing an antiquated argument that amounted to victim-shaming.

Reminding the jury Trump has already been found liable for assaulting and defaming Carroll, Crowley said that in the defense's eyes, "even though he did those things, even though Donald Trump does whatever he wants, any harm Ms. Carroll suffered is her fault for speaking out."

Crowley conceded more people know who Carroll is now, but she said that the idea that positive attention cancels out the harm Trump caused is "nonsense," and she asked the jury to reject the defense argument that Carroll is somehow better off.

"Ms. Carroll did not ask to be called a liar, she did not ask for death threats," Crowley said. "She did not ask to be accused of lying, of making up a story for money."

In this courtroom sketch, E Jean Carroll's attorney Roberta Kaplan gives her summation to the jury in Manhattan federal court as former President Donald Trump, and E. Jean Carroll listen, Jan. 26, 2024, in New York City.
Elizabeth Williams/AP

Defending Carroll's quirky personality and her conflicting testimony about her feelings, Crowley argued that Carroll should not have to prove she was a broken wreck of a person at all times, in order to collect damages.

"You can be wrecked inside and also feel moments of triumph. You can be sad and also feel proud when people stand beside you," Crowley said.

Crowley said Trump's defense amounted to "she asked for it," and asked the jury, "Are we really still doing that? Have we really not moved past that naïve idea?"

"He wants you to hold Ms. Carroll accountable for his actions," Crowley said of Trump. "He is not the victim."

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