On Monday, a federal appeals court upheld a $5 million verdict that E. Jean Carroll won against Donald Trump, finding the US president-elect liable for sexual abuse and defamation.
The three-judge panel of the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan unanimously dismissed Trump’s claim of an unfair trial due to the admission of evidence regarding alleged past sexual misconduct.
The court highlighted evidence, such as Trump’s remarks on an “Access Hollywood” video during the 2016 presidential campaign, demonstrating a “repeated, idiosyncratic pattern of conduct” aligned with Carroll’s accusations.
According to their unsigned decision, the judges concluded that no errors in the district court’s decisions regarding evidence impacted Trump’s substantial rights.
Federal appeals court upholds jury's verdict against Trump that he sexually abused writer E. Jean Carroll and denies his request for a new trial https://t.co/bwkOzOSlFy
— CNN (@CNN) December 30, 2024Responses from Trump’s and Carroll’s legal teams to the ruling were not immediately available.
The original May 2023 verdict stemmed from an incident that Carroll, now 81, alleges occurred in a Manhattan Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in 1996. She accused Trump of raping her, an allegation he denied in a 2022 Truth Social post, calling it a hoax.
Although the Manhattan federal court jury did not find Trump guilty of rape, they awarded Carroll $2.02 million for sexual assault and $2.98 million for defamation.
In January, another jury awarded Carroll $83.3 million for defamation and damage to her reputation following Trump’s 2019 denial of her rape claim. Trump, who described Carroll as “not my type” and accused her of fabricating the story to sell her memoir, is appealing this verdict.
U.S. appeals court upholds Trump verdict in E. Jean Carroll defamation case https://t.co/20s2o56O7k
— Fox News (@FoxNews) December 30, 2024Despite Trump’s recent reelection, Carroll’s legal battles continue. This follows the 1997 US Supreme Court decision from a case involving Bill Clinton that sitting presidents can face civil litigation for actions unrelated to their duties.
Read: Trump Appeals $83.3M Defamation Judgment in E. Jean Carroll Case
Trump’s lawyers argued unsuccessfully that the $5 million verdict should be overturned because the trial judge, US District Judge Lewis Kaplan, improperly allowed testimony from two other women who accused Trump of similar misconduct, as well as the controversial “Access Hollywood” video. However, the court maintained that these accounts were relevant to establishing a consistent pattern of behaviour.
BREAKING: A federal appeals court has rejected President-elect Donald Trump's attempt to overturn a jury's verdict last year that found he sexually abused writer E. Jean Carroll in the mid-1990s.https://t.co/Q6jPA2EGvm pic.twitter.com/UoGx3yr3gY
— ABC News (@ABC) December 30, 2024Additionally, the court dismissed Trump’s contention that Kaplan should have admitted evidence suggesting Reid Hoffman, a Democratic critic and billionaire, funded Carroll’s case, stating it had “little probative value.”
Judge Kaplan also presided over the trial, which resulted in a verdict of $83.3 million.
