Former President Donald Trump must pay writer E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million/Ksh1.3 billion for defaming her in 2019 after she accused him of sexually assaulting her in a department store in the 1990s.
The jury determined that Trump must pay $18.3 million in compensatory damages and $65 million in punitive damages.
Carroll had sought at least $12 million for reputation repair, plus additional compensatory and punitive damages.
The current jury of nine New Yorkers — including a former schoolteacher, a transit worker, and a property manager — rendered a verdict after deliberating for just under three hours.
In a statement, E. Jean Carroll lauded the jury’s verdict.
“This is a great victory for every woman who stands up when she’s been knocked down, and a huge defeat for every bully who has tried to keep a woman down,” Carroll said.
Her attorney, Roberta Kaplan, said, “Today’s verdict proves that the law applies to everyone in our country, even the rich, even the famous, even former presidents.”
“We thank the jury for standing up for E. Jean and the rule of law,” she said.
Addressing the media outside the courthouse, Trump attorney Alina Habba slammed the $83 million verdict, dismissing the jury as “ridiculous” and repeating Trump’s vow to immediately appeal.
“We will immediately appeal. We will set aside that ridiculous jury,” Habba said. “I assure you — we didn’t win today, but we will win.”
Habba repeated her grievances with the orders from the judge, who instructed the defense that, based on the ruling in Trump’s previous trial, they could not dispute that Trump assaulted Carroll and later defamed her when he denied it.
“You are not allowed to be stripped of every defense you have,” Habba said.
Habba said she was “so proud” to represent Trump, and repeated his familiar claim that he is being targeted for political purposes.
After the decision was announced, E. Jean Carroll and her lawyers locked hands as they stood for the jury to exit, and multiple jurors appeared to nod toward them as they left the courtroom for the final time.
Carroll and her lawyers immediately broke into a group hug as soon as Kaplan dismissed the parties.
Trump’s defense team promptly exited the courtroom once they were dismissed, and his attorney Alina Habba thanked the court’s staff for their service.
Shortly after Judge Kaplan’s deputy read the verdict, the judge thanked the jury for their service and offered them a suggestion about interacting with the media.
“My advice to you is that you never disclose that you were on this jury, and I won’t say anything more about it,” Kaplan told the jury.
Writing on his social media platform, former President Trump called the $83 million decision “Absolutely ridiculous!” and said he will appeal.
The former president was not in the courtroom when the decision was announced.
Last year, in a separate trial, a jury determined that Trump was liable for sexually abusing Carroll in the dressing room of a Manhattan department store in the 1990s, and that he defamed her in a 2022 social media post by calling her allegations “a Hoax and a lie” and saying “This woman is not my type!”
The jury last year found Trump liable for sexually assaulting then defaming Carroll, awarding her $5 million in damages.
Trump denied all wrongdoing and has said he doesn’t know who Carroll is.
