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Author E. Jean Carroll has already confirmed that Donald Trump defamed her and an upcoming trial on her civil claims towards the previous president will focus solely on what cash damages he owes her, a federal decide in New York dominated Wednesday.
In a 25-page ruling, U.S. District Courtroom Choose Lewis Kaplan discovered the substance of Carroll’s pending defamation claims have been the identical because the Trump insults {that a} jury had decided have been defamatory earlier this 12 months.
In Could, a jury in a separate civil trial discovered Trump had sexually abused Carroll throughout an encounter within the dressing room of a New York division retailer within the Nineties, after which defamed her after he left workplace by calling her claims a made-up “con job.” The jury awarded Carroll a complete of $5 million in damages — a verdict Trump is interesting to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Courtroom of Appeals.
The second case focuses on related feedback Trump made about Carroll when she first went public along with her claims in 2019 whereas he was president.
“The reality or falsity of Mr. Trump’s 2019 statements due to this fact relies upon — like the reality or falsity of his 2022 assertion — on whether or not Ms. Carroll lied about Mr. Trump sexually assaulting her. The jury’s discovering that she didn’t due to this fact is binding on this case and precludes Mr. Trump from contesting the falsity of his 2019 statements,” Kaplan wrote.
Because of this, the trial within the pending case, which is at present scheduled for January of 2024, “shall be restricted to the difficulty of damages solely,” Kaplan wrote.
The decide additionally denied a bid from Trump’s attorneys to cut back any damages Carroll may get within the case due to the sooner $5 million verdict.
Carroll filed the pending case towards Trump first, however it had been tied up on attraction over points having to do with presidential immunity.
Trump lawyer Alina Habba argued that if the appeals courtroom guidelines in Trump’s favor within the earlier Carroll case, it might nullify the decide’s ruling.
“We stay very assured that the Carroll II verdict will likely be overturned on attraction, which is able to render this determination moot. We additionally anticipate that the Second Circuit will keep this trial because it considers the meritorious defenses which have been raised by President Trump,” Habba mentioned in a press release.
An lawyer for Carroll didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
