After a civil jury in New York federal court found a preponderance of the evidence showed Donald Trump sexually assaulted and defamed journalist E. Jean Carroll, legal experts are calling the decision an “overwhelming win” that has “vindicated” the journalist.
Carroll, who had not asked for any specific amount of monetary damages, was awarded $5 million, which Trump will have to pay. Throughout the trial she said she wanted to take back her life.
“I’m here because Donald Trump raped me, and when I wrote about it, he said it didn’t happen. He lied and shattered my reputation, and I’m here to try and get my life back,” Carroll had told jurors.
MSNBC’s Ali Velshi listed all the allegations Trump was found liable for: Sexual Abuse, Forcible Touching, Injury of E. Jean Carroll, Willful and Wanton Negligence, Defamation, False Statements, Malicious Intent, Injury for Defamation, and Acting Maliciously.
Tristan Snell, an attorney who helped successfully prosecute the Trump University case for the New York Attorney General’s Office, says “Trump is LIABLE and must pay damages to Carroll.”
“This was a civil case, not criminal. So no one is ‘guilty’ or ‘not guilty’ here, and no one was ‘convicted.’ But this is a clear and resounding jury verdict finding Trump liable for sexual assault and defamation.”
“The man who said ‘stars’ have been assaulting women for 1 million years, ‘unfortunately or fortunately,’ now owes one of those women 5 million dollars,” Snell adds.
“Find 9 random New Yorkers and we probably can’t agree on ANYTHING,” he concludes. “Except that Donald Trump is a sexual predator.”
A former federal prosecutor of more than 20 years, Elizabeth de la Vega says: “The jury didn’t find that Trump DIDN’T rape Ms. Carroll, but that he’s not liable for rape because that allegation wasn’t proved by a preponderance of evidence — a reasonable conclusion that in no way diminishes Ms. Carroll’s overwhelming win.”
“The speed with which the jury reached this verdict is, of itself, a testament to the validity of Ms. Carroll’s case and the seriousness with which the jury viewed the allegations,” she adds.
“There’s no doubt the jury fully credited Carroll’s testimony,” notes former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance. “They found for her on battery & on defamation, which required them to believe Trump acted with reckless disregard for the truth. That they awarded her $5 mil in damages confirms the strength of their belief.”
“E. Jean Carroll didn’t just get her day in court,” says MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin. “She was vindicated on both her sexual assault and defamation claims—and if I heard correctly, awarded $5 million in total damages by a jury of 6 men and 3 women. Stunning and gratifying—& all because of several corroborators.”
Professor of law Moe Davis, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel, former judge, and former Chief Prosecutor of the Guantanamo military commissions, referred to the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape. He notes that the jury found Trump “did exactly what he told Billy Bush was his normal course of deviant, degenerate, immoral conduct.”
Former FBI General Counsel Andrew Weissmann on MSNBC calls the ruling pretty much “bulletproof,” saying it would likely stand up to any possible appeal Trump might file.
Attorney Dahlia Lithwick, a senior editor at Slate who writes about the law observes, “Not just a win for E Jean and her team. She put everything out there. But for the friends who believed her and testified at personal cost. It takes systems to subvert systems. Ours are not always visible but they are mighty.”