In a significant legal ruling, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on Monday upheld a $5 million verdict against former President-elect Donald Trump for sexual assault and defamation in the case filed by writer E. Jean Carroll.
The court’s decision affirmed a lower court’s judgment, rejecting Trump’s appeal based on evidentiary grounds related to sexual assault claims.
Trump, who had contested the original ruling, argued that the trial court improperly admitted evidence of other alleged sexual assaults.
These included testimony from two women who accused Trump of assault and a recording in which Trump described non-consensually kissing and grabbing a woman. Trump’s legal team argued that such evidence violated the Federal Rules of Evidence (FRE), specifically FRE Rule 404, which generally prohibits the introduction of “propensity evidence.”
However, the Second Circuit upheld the trial court’s decision, citing Rule 415 of the FRE, which allows for the admission of such evidence in civil suits alleging sexual assault.
The appeals court found that the defamation claim could still be tied to evidence of sexual assault, as it involved allegations of Trump engaging in a pattern of non-consensual behavior.
According to the court, “the jury could reasonably infer from [the evidence] that Mr. Trump engaged in … a pattern of abrupt, nonconsensual, and physical advances on women he barely knew.”
Additionally, Trump’s attempt to overturn the verdict by challenging the trial court’s exclusion of certain evidence was also unsuccessful. The excluded evidence pertained to the legality of Ms. Carroll’s legal fees being paid by one of Trump’s political opponents and parts of a transcript suggesting Carroll had coached another sexual assault witness. The appeals court also upheld the trial court’s decision to restrict Trump’s cross-examination of Carroll on specific issues, including claims about the presence of Trump’s DNA, her failure to file a police report, and the lack of surveillance footage from the department store where the alleged assault occurred.
Carroll initially filed her defamation lawsuit in 2019, following Trump’s statements denying the allegations of sexual assault made by Carroll. In September 2023, Carroll won the suit related to Trump’s 2019 statement, and the appeals court ruling comes after Trump sought to overturn a 2022 defamation verdict concerning subsequent remarks.
This ruling is significant, as it not only maintains Carroll’s $5 million judgment but also reinforces the legal principle that evidence of prior sexual assault can be admissible in cases involving allegations of defamation related to such assaults.
In a separate matter, Trump had previously won a $16 million defamation settlement with ABC, following claims made by ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos that Trump had been found liable for raping Carroll.
The ruling in the Carroll case continues to shape the ongoing legal battles surrounding Trump’s public statements and the broader discourse around defamation and sexual assault lawsuits.
