Former President Donald Trump is facing a second trial in New York, this time to determine additional damages for defaming E. Jean Carroll, a former Elle magazine columnist, after denying her sexual assault allegations.
The focus is on deciding the amount of money Trump should pay in damages, with Carroll seeking $10 million in compensatory damages.
The previous jury’s finding that Trump is guilty of sexual assault cannot be relitigated, and the judge has placed extensive restrictions on the evidence Trump can present. (Trending: Joe Biden’s Approval Crashes To New Low)
JUST IN: Judge threatens to kick Donald Trump out of courtroom during E. Jean Carroll's defamation trial against him in New York.
Trump reportedly taunted the judge in response by saying: "I would love it!"
Judge: "Mr. Trump has the right to be present here. That right can be… pic.twitter.com/o2g28wWZVa
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) January 17, 2024
If Trump is found liable again, the jury may impose a heavier monetary award to deter and silence him.
“The jury has the power to impose substantial punitive damages on Trump for raping Ms. Carroll, then branding her accusation as made-up and then repeatedly castigating her in public and social posts as crazy and ‘whacky,’” former New York prosecutor Bennett Gershman said.
“I’ve never met this person in my life,” Trump said. “She is trying to sell a new book — that should indicate her motivation. It should be sold in the fiction section.”
“The damages will be calculated from 2019 when the subject statements were made, and since it covers a longer period of time than the damages awarded in the first trial, the damages could be more,” libel law attorney Tre Lovell said. “Also, Trump’s constant posting and tweeting about Ms. Carroll could have an effect on punitive damages, suggesting he is targeting her out of ill-will and spite.”
“This is an unusual case in that most individuals having lost, stop the defamation,” Hamline University professor David Schultz said.
“But here the issue is not so much that it is an ex-president or Trump, but that the issue is a billionaire who has deep pockets and is willing to keep spending money to defame someone. The court may need to think of punitive damages at a significantly higher level than perhaps we have ever seen in defamation cases. I think the parallel here is the recent Fox settlement with Dominion.”
“The jury also must take account of the failure of the earlier award to deter him from repeating his wrongdoing, which is a critical factor in imposing punishment on a wrongdoer,” Gershman said.
“The only right, honest, and lawful thing that Clinton-appointed Judge Lewis Kaplan, who has so far been unable to see clearly because of his absolute hatred of Donald J. Trump (ME!), can do is to end this unAmerican injustice being done to a President of the United States, who was wrongfully accused by a woman he never met, saw, or touched (a photo line does not count!), and knows absolutely nothing about,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“The jury may now determine that a much heavier monetary amount must now be necessary to shut him up,” Gershman said.
“This trial could answer the question of whether any amount of damages can silence Trump,” defamation law attorney Camron Dowlatshahi said. “If the jury were to return a judgment of that magnitude, even Trump would have to think twice before speaking badly of Carroll.”
“Trump wants to make this about politics so that arguably he could fund-raise and pay the fees and judgments here as a campaign-related expense,” Schultz said. “If he cannot make it about his campaign and it is personal, he needs to bear his own costs.”
“It appears that hitting Trump with a far heavier monetary damage award may be the only thing to deter him and silence him,” Gershman said.
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