After the decision was announced, E. Jean Carroll and her lawyers locked hands as they stood for the jury to exit, and multiple jurors appeared to nod toward them as they left the courtroom for the final time.

Carroll and her lawyers immediately broke into a group hug as soon as Kaplan dismissed the parties.

Trump's defense team promptly exited the courtroom once they were dismissed, and his attorney Alina Habba thanked the court's staff for their service.

Shortly after Judge Kaplan's deputy read the verdict, the judge thanked the jury for their service and offered them a suggestion about interacting with the media.

"My advice to you is that you never disclose that you were on this jury, and I won't say anything more about it," Kaplan told the jury.

Writing on his social media platform, former President Trump called the $83 million decision "Absolutely ridiculous!" and said he will appeal.

The former president was not in the courtroom when the decision was announced.

Former President Donald Trump must pay writer E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million for defaming her in 2019 after she accused him of sexually assaulting her in a department store in the 1990s.

The jury determined that Trump must pay $18.3 million in compensatory damages and $65 million in punitive damages.

Carroll had sought at least $12 million for reputation repair, plus additional compensatory and punitive damages.

A separate jury last year found Trump liable for sexually assaulting then defaming Carroll, awarding her $5 million in damages.

The current jury of nine New Yorkers -- including a former schoolteacher, a transit worker, and a property manager -- rendered a verdict after deliberating for just under three hours.

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.

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."

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."