Court rejects Trump appeal in E. Jean Carroll case : NPR

A federal appeals court has rejected an appeal by Donald Trump after a jury ruled that he sexually assaulted and defamed E. Jane Carroll.

After a Nine-day civil trial In 2023, the jury decided that the plaintiff, E. Jane Carroll was sexually assaulted by Donald Trump in a Manhattan department store in 1996. The jury also found that Trump defamed her in statements he made in 2022.

The jury awarded her compensatory and punitive damages totaling $5 million.

Trump appealed. He claimed the lower court judge erred in several rulings — including decisions to allow testimony from two women who claimed Trump had sexually assaulted them in the past. He also said the judge should not have allowed the jury to hear the 2005 case Access Hollywood A recording in which Trump described how he kissed and grabbed women without getting their consent first.

In a A 77-page rulingA three-judge panel said the president-elect had not proven that the district court erred in any of the contested rulings. Additionally, the appeals court said none of Trump’s claims affected his “substantive rights” and did not warrant a new trial.

In a statement, Trump spokesman Stephen Cheung mocked the federal appeals court’s decision. “The American people have re-elected President Trump with an overwhelming mandate, and they demand an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and the swift dismissal of all witch hunts, including the Democrat-funded Carroll Hoax, which continue to appeal.”

In 2024, A.J Different jury in New York The state court ordered Trump to pay Carroll $83 million. Jurors decided her credibility as an advice columnist was destroyed when he called her a liar after she accused him of sexual assault.