The jury in the former President of the United States, Donald Trump, rape case has awarded $5mn in damages to writer, Jean E. Carroll.
This is as the jury seated in New York found Trump guilty of sexually assaulting Carroll, they, however, exonerated the former president of rape charge.
The former Elle magazine columnist filed a defamation and battery suit against Trump last year, after a law took effect in New York that gave victims of sexual assault a one-year window to sue their alleged abusers decades after attacks may have occurred.
Testifying before the jury last week, Carroll described to jurors how an encounter with Trump in a Manhattan store quickly turned violent.
She said that after Trump playfully asked her for advice on buying a women’s lingerie gift, he “shoved” her against the wall of the dressing room.
“All his weight (was) against my chest. He pulled down my tights. I was pushing him back,” she said.
Trump had vehemently denied the allegations via his social media platform, ‘Truth Social’, where he tagged Carroll’s claim, a “complete con job”, and the suit, “a made up scam”.
The nine-person jury reached a decision on Tuesday, finding Trump liable of sexual assault but not rape. He was also found liable for defamation, for calling her claims a “hoax”.
On the verdict sheet, the jury ticked – “no” regarding the question of if the plaintiff had proven “by a preponderance of the evidence” that “Mr. Trump raped Ms. Carroll,”.
On the contrary, the jury ticked “yes”, when asked if she had proven “by a preponderance of the evidence” that Mr. Trump sexually abused her.
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