A jury in New York has found former US president Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming a magazine columnist. However, the jury did not accept that he had raped her.
The jury found that Mr Trump should pay $5 million in total damages to the writer E Jean Carroll arising from both the findings of sexual abuse and defamation.
The case in New York was a civil action rather than a criminal case. Mr Trump will not face any criminal penalties arising from the jury finding. Legislation in New York allows for civil cases to be brought by alleged victims of sexual assault after the statute of limitation for criminal cases has expired.
Ms Carroll had alleged that she had been raped by Mr Trump in the changing room of a department store in New York city nearly 30 years ago. The former president had strongly denied any wrongdoing and had alleged that the allegations against him had been made up by Ms Carroll.
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However, Mr Trump did not put up a defence and did not give evidence directly in the case although he had suggested when in Ireland last week that he could turn up in the court.
In closing arguments on Monday, Mr Trump’s lawyer had maintained that Ms Carroll’s allegations were far fetched. He had contended that the former magazine columnist had made her claims to drive sales of a book published in 2019, for status and for political reasons to disparage the former president.
After deliberating for more than two hours on Tuesday, the nine-person jury found that Ms Carroll had proven that she had been sexually abused by the former president. However, the jury did not find that she had been raped.
The jury found that the former president had defamed Ms Carroll by making comments calling her case a “hoax and a lie”.
It is expected that the former president will appeal the finding by the jury.
Mr Trump said on social media on Tuesday that the verdict in the case was “a disgrace”. He said he had “absolutely no idea who this woman is”. He said the verdict represented “a continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time”.
Trump’s lawyer Joe Tacopina later said the former president does not believe that he can secure a fair trial in New York city and confirmed that he would be appealing the jury finding.
Ms Carroll, who is 79, did not speak as she left the court after the finding by the jury. However, her lawyer said: “We are very happy.”
The judge in the case had earlier told the jury that the first question on the verdict form was to decide whether they believed there was more than a 50 per cent chance that Mr Trump had raped Ms Carroll inside the department store changing room. If they answered “yes”, they would then decide whether compensatory and punitive damages should be awarded.
If they answered “no” on the rape question, they could then decide if Trump subjected her to lesser forms of assault involving sexual contact without her consent or forcibly touching to degrade her or gratify his sexual desire. If they answered “yes” on either of those questions, they were to decide if damages were appropriate.
The jury found that Ms Carroll should receive $2 million in compensation and $20,000 in punitive damages for the battery claim as well as $2.7 million in compensation and $280,000 in punitive damages in relation to the defamation.
