On Friday, January 26, a federal jury decided to order former President Donald Trump to pay $83.3 million in damages. This is due to the false allegations he made while denying the sexual assault allegations leveled against him by E. Jean Carroll.
Carroll's attorney requested $24 million in damages from the jury. Attorney Roberta Kaplan stated that the punitive amount should be enough to “make him stop” belittling her client.
Judge Lewis Kaplan decided the amount. The former president must pay the amount to writer E. Jean Carroll for defaming her in 2019 after he refuted the accusations. On the other hand, Kaplan presided over the president's federal defamation trial.
Once the anonymous group of jurors returned the verdict, Kaplan advised them never to reveal their identities. According to sources like The Independent who reported the same, Judge Lewis Kaplan said in the courtroom:
“My advice to you is never to reveal your presence on this jury.”
Trump will have to pay $83.3 million after losing the defamation case against E. Jean Carroll
Donald Trump was asked to pay E Jean Carroll an additional $83.3 million. It's only been a few months since the writer received a $5 million award in a defamation and sexual assault case against the former president.
Carroll, a veteran advice columnist, said in a 2019 New York Magazine article that the former US president assaulted her in a department store dressing room in the mid-1990s. He quickly refuted the claims, referring to Carroll as a “job done” and maintaining that he had never met her.
After that, Carroll filed a defamation suit against the former president. During the first trial, the jury convicted him of libel and sexual assault. In the second trial, the nine-member jury heard arguments between Carroll and Trump. The jury then decided to award Carroll compensation.
After the whole thing was over, Kaplan advised jurors not to reveal their names or identities. This was one of Kaplan's many precautions to ensure the safety of the jury. Kaplan also decided to keep the jury anonymous during the trial.
According to sources like Business Indian, Judge Kaplan did not clearly state why the advice was given. However, the former president's followers have threatened to kill jurors and judges in the past when the former president was impeached.
Carroll was ultimately awarded $18.3 million in compensatory damages and $65 million in punitive damages by the jury after closing arguments. Of the $65 million, $11 million was awarded for reputation restoration, and $7.3 million was awarded for emotional distress. The punitive damages fine was intended to punish Trump and discourage him from defaming him in the future.
According to sources like Mint, the former president called the ruling “completely ridiculous” and announced he would appeal the decision. According to Hindustan Times, criticizing the same on his official Truth Social account, he wrote:
“It is absolutely ridiculous! Our legal system is out of control, and is being used as a political weapon.”
He also wrote that he would appeal the entire situation because he completely disagreed with the ruling. Although there is no evidence that Joe Biden gave instructions to the Department of Justice to target Trump, he went on to say that Biden was the one who managed the entire operation.
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