Trial against columnist
Trump fails with rape allegation lawsuit
08/07/2023 9:56 p.m
Former US President Trump is suing Elle columnist Carroll for accusing him of raping her in 1996. However, a jury only found sexual abuse in the case. Trump therefore accuses Carroll of defamation – according to a verdict, wrongly.
Former US President Donald Trump has failed in a defamation lawsuit against columnist E. Jean Carroll, who accused him of a rape in the 1990s. A New York federal judge dismissed the Republican presidential candidate’s lawsuit. The background was the question of what exactly can be described as rape – legally, but also colloquially.
In May, a jury sentenced Trump to $5 million in damages and damages to Carroll for sexual abuse and defamation. When asked if Trump had “raped” the now 79-year-old in the dressing room of a New York luxury department store in the spring of 1996, the jury answered “no”.
In New York criminal law, rape requires forcible penetration with the penis. The jury did not see this as proven in the Trump-Carroll case – but did see that the real estate mogul had penetrated the well-known journalist with his finger at the time. The day after the verdict, Carroll reiterated on CNN that Trump raped her at the time. The ex-president and candidate for the 2024 presidential election sued Carroll for defamation.
Trump sees allegation as “fictional story”
Federal Judge Lewis Kaplan said that while New York criminal law defines rape in the “narrow, technical sense” as penile penetration, the term is otherwise generally used and understood as penetration. In this context, it can be said that the jury concluded that Trump “raped” Carroll.
The judge continued to write that the basis for a defamation lawsuit was not given. He granted Carroll’s motion to dismiss Trump’s lawsuit. With the verdict in the much-noticed civil trial in May, Trump was prosecuted for the first time for allegations of sexual violence. In the coming year, there will be another civil trial in New York over allegations of defamation by E. Jean Carroll.
The longtime columnist for Elle magazine only made her rape allegations against Trump public in 2019, when the Republican was president. Trump accused Carroll of lying and said she wasn’t his “type”. He has denied Carroll’s allegations even after his conviction, speaking of a “fake story” and a “made-up story”.