A federal appeals court of the US has upheld a $5 million verdict that E Jean Carroll won against president-elect after a jury found Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing and later defaming the ex-magazine columnist.
A three-judge panel of the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan unanimously rejected Donald Trump’s argument, saying trial judge made mistakes in letting jurors hear evidence about the Republican’s alleged past sexual misconduct.
The panel observed evidence, including Donald Trump bragging about his sexual prowess on an Access Hollywood video, which came to light during the 2016 US presidential campaign, proved a repeated, idiosyncratic pattern of conduct consistent with Carroll’s allegations.
The court said in an unsigned decision that taking the record as a whole and considering the strength of Carroll’s case, it is not persuaded that any claimed error or combination of errors in the district court’s evidentiary rulings affected Donald Trump’s substantial rights.
The counsel for Donald Trump did not immediately respond to requests for comment. On the other hand, the Carroll’s lawyer also did not immediately respond to similar requests.
The May 2023 verdict is about an incident around 1996 in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in Manhattan, where Carroll, said Donald Trump raped her. In October 2022, Trump taking to Truth Social denied Carroll’s claim as a hoax.
Though jurors in federal court in Manhattan did not find that Trump, 78, committed rape, they awarded the former Elle magazine advice columnist $2.02 million for sexual assault and $2.98 million for defamation.
