Former US President Donald Trump has been found liable by a federal jury in Manhattan for sexual abuse and defamation in the case brought by writer E. Jean Carroll.
According to reports, the case alleged that Trump raped Carroll in a department store dressing room in the mid-1990s.
The jury, consisting of six men and three women, awarded $2 million to Carroll for battery and $3 million for defamation, though they did not find Trump guilty of rape.
Throughout the case, Trump had repeatedly dismissed Carroll’s claims and referred to the allegations as “a complete con job.”
Reports has it that Trump’s legal team did not offer any defence during the two-week trial and relied on the hope that Carroll’s case would not convince the jurors.
The jury deliberated for over two hours before delivering unanimous verdicts. Unlike criminal cases, where proof beyond a reasonable doubt is required, civil cases require clear and convincing evidence. During the trial, Carroll and two other women testified that they were assaulted by Trump, who did not appear in person but via video deposition in October 2022.
In response to the verdict, Trump took to social media to criticise Carroll and the judicial process, calling the ruling “a disgrace” and “a continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time.”
He wrote on Truth Social: “I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHO THIS WOMAN IS. THIS VERDICT IS A DISGRACE – A CONTINUATION OF THE GREATEST WITCH HUNT OF ALL TIME!”
The case is one of many involving Trump, who also faces criminal charges brought by the Manhattan District Attorney over payments made in 2016 to porn star Stormy Daniels and a Justice Department special counsel investigation into his handling of classified material and his role in efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
