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Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
NY appeals court rejects bid to overturn Trump's convictions in E. Jean Carroll case
President Donald Trump has lost his latest bid to challenge a civil jury verdict holding him liable for sexually abusing writer E. Jean Carroll in the 90s and then defaming her decades later when she went public with the allegations. On Friday the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York declined Trump's request for a court's full bench to rehear his case. The decision leaves in place a December 2024 ruling by a three-judge panel upholding the 2023 jury verdict, which ordered Trump to pay Carroll $5 million in damages. Carroll's attorney, Roberta Kaplan, welcomed the decision. 'E. Jean Carroll is very pleased with today's ruling,' she said. 'Although President Trump continues to try every possible maneuver to challenge the findings of two separate juries, those efforts have failed. He remains liable for sexual assault and defamation.' The case is one of two civil suits Carroll, now 81, has filed against Trump, both stemming from his public denials of her 2019 accusation that he sexually assaulted her in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman in Manhattan in 1996. In October 2022, Trump defamed Carroll on Truth Social by denying her claim as a hoax. Carroll's first lawsuit, related to Trump's 2019 statements, ended in January 2024 with an $83.3 million defamation verdict in her favor. Trump is also appealing that outcome. Oral arguments in that appeal are scheduled for June 24. The lawsuit at the center of Friday's ruling was filed in 2022 after New York temporarily lifted its statute of limitations for certain sexual assault claims. It included both defamation and battery claims related to Carroll's original allegations and Trump's more recent comments. Two judges—Steven Menashi and Michael Park, both appointed by Trump—dissented from Friday's decision, arguing the court should have reconsidered the case. Menashi accused the panel of deviating from precedent and criticized the trial judge for excluding key evidence and admitting 'stale witness testimony' from another woman who accused Trump of assault during an unrelated encounter. The majority of the appellate court rejected that view. Four judges countered the dissent, writing that the appeal did not meet the high bar required for review, which is typically reserved for cases involving significant legal questions or conflicts in appellate precedent. Judges Denny Chin and Susan Carney, who previously ruled against Trump in the December decision, issued a statement supporting the majority and directly refuting Menashi's arguments. 'Even on his own terms, our dissenting colleague fails to explain why any purported error warrants a retrial or full court review,' they wrote. Trump's final chance to overturn the verdict lies with the Supreme Court. His team has indicated that he will ask the highest court to hear his appeal, but the court is not obligated to do so. According to NBC News, in a statement Friday, a spokesperson for Trump described the lawsuit as a 'Democrat-funded Carroll Hoax' and said the former president 'will keep winning against Liberal Lawfare, as he is focusing on his mission to Make America Great Again.'
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Court rules against Donald Trump in effort to retry E. Jean Carroll sex abuse case
June 13 (UPI) -- The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on Friday rejected President Donald Trump's attempt to get a retrial of the civil sexual abuse and defamation liability verdict against him in the E. Jean Carroll case. The appeals court had already rejected an appeal of the verdict in December. The court voted 8-2 Friday to refuse Trump's effort to overturn the verdict and retry the case. Lawyers for Carroll said in a statement, "E. Jean Carroll is very pleased with today's decision. Although President Trump continues to try every possible maneuver to challenge the findings of two separate juries, those efforts have failed. He remains liable for sexual assault and defamation." Trump's lawyers then sought a retrial, petitioning to have the full appeals rule on it in what's known en banc. The court's Friday ruling written by Judge Myrna Perez said of Trump's effort, "Simply re-litigating a case is not an appropriate use of the en banc procedure." She added, "In those rare instances in which a case warrants our collective consideration, it is almost always because it involves a question of exceptional importance or a conflict between the panel's opinion and appellate precedent." Perez said of Trump's earlier rejected appeal of the verdict, "Defendant-Appellant appealed a civil judgment against him for sexual assault and defamation, challenging several of the district court's evidentiary rulings. For the reasons discussed at length in its unanimous opinion, the panel, on which I sat, found no reversible abuse of discretion." Trump denies sexually assaulting Carroll and defaming her. A statement from a spokesperson for Trump's legal team said, "The American People are supporting President Trump in historic numbers, and they demand an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and a swift dismissal of all of the Witch Hunts, including the Democrat-funded Carroll Hoax, which will continue to be appealed." Trump-appointed Circuit Judges Steven J. Menashi and Michael Park dissented. "I would rehear the case en banc to "maintain uniformity of the court's decisions" and to resolve these important questions in line with longstanding principles," Menashi wrote. Writer Carroll won a $83.3 million defamation judgement against Trump, as well as a civil verdict, that he sexually abused her. The jury in that case found Trump liable for battery and defamation in Carroll's sexual abuse lawsuit. She alleged in that suit that Trump sexually abused her in a New York City department store. The jury found that Trump, beyond a preponderance of evidence, sexually abused Carroll.
UPI
a day ago
- Politics
- UPI
Court rules against Donald Trump in effort to retry E. Jean Carroll sex abuse case
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Friday rejected President Donald Trump's attempt to get a retrial of the civil sexual abuse and defamation liability verdict against him in the case of E. Jean Carroll (pictured arriving on the red carpet at Lincoln Center in New York City in 2024). File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo June 13 (UPI) -- The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on Friday rejected President Donald Trump's attempt to get a retrial of the civil sexual abuse and defamation liability verdict against him in the E. Jean Carroll case. The appeals court had already rejected an appeal of the verdict in December. The court voted 8-2 Friday to refuse Trump's effort to overturn the verdict and retry the case. Lawyers for Carroll said in a statement, "E. Jean Carroll is very pleased with today's decision. Although President Trump continues to try every possible maneuver to challenge the findings of two separate juries, those efforts have failed. He remains liable for sexual assault and defamation." Trump's lawyers then sought a retrial, petitioning to have the full appeals rule on it in what's known en banc. The court's Friday ruling written by Judge Myrna Perez said of Trump's effort, "Simply re-litigating a case is not an appropriate use of the en banc procedure." She added, "In those rare instances in which a case warrants our collective consideration, it is almost always because it involves a question of exceptional importance or a conflict between the panel's opinion and appellate precedent." Perez said of Trump's earlier rejected appeal of the verdict, "Defendant-Appellant appealed a civil judgment against him for sexual assault and defamation, challenging several of the district court's evidentiary rulings. For the reasons discussed at length in its unanimous opinion, the panel, on which I sat, found no reversible abuse of discretion." Trump denies sexually assaulting Carroll and defaming her. A statement from a spokesperson for Trump's legal team said, "The American People are supporting President Trump in historic numbers, and they demand an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and a swift dismissal of all of the Witch Hunts, including the Democrat-funded Carroll Hoax, which will continue to be appealed." Trump-appointed Circuit Judges Steven J. Menashi and Michael Park dissented. "I would rehear the case en banc to "maintain uniformity of the court's decisions" and to resolve these important questions in line with longstanding principles," Menashi wrote. Writer Carroll won a $83.3 million defamation judgement against Trump, as well as a civil verdict, that he sexually abused her. The jury in that case found Trump liable for battery and defamation in Carroll's sexual abuse lawsuit. She alleged in that suit that Trump sexually abused her in a New York City department store. The jury found that Trump, beyond a preponderance of evidence, sexually abused Carroll.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Appeals court denies Trump plea to review $5 million judgment in E. Jean Carroll abuse and defamation case
A federal appeals court on Friday rejected another attempt by President Donald Trump to review a $5 million judgment against him for sexually abusing and then defaming E. Jean Carroll. A three-judge panel from the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Trump in December. Trump asked the full court to reconsider, but the court rejected the plea Friday. The president's next stop, should he wish, would be the Supreme Court. Carroll, a former magazine columnist, alleged that Trump raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman department store in New York in the 1990s and then defamed her when he denied her claim, said she wasn't his type and suggested she made up the story to boost sales of her book. The jury found Trump liable for battery based on the sexual assault claim, that he should pay about $2 million in damages to Carroll for the civil battery claim and that he should pay her nearly $3 million in damages for successfully proving her defamation claim against him. While the jury found that Trump sexually abused her, sufficient to hold him liable for battery, the jury did not find that Carroll proved he raped her. Trump denied all claims brought against him by Carroll and called the civil trial verdict 'a total disgrace.' 'The American People are supporting President Trump in historic numbers, and they demand an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and a swift dismissal of all of the Witch Hunts, including the Democrat-funded Carroll Hoax, which will continue to be appealed,' a Trump legal spokesman said in a statement Friday. Two judges dissented from the order, agreeing with Trump's argument that the use of the Access Hollywood tape in which he bragged that stars can 'do anything' to women and other evidence of alleged prior bad acts was prejudicial. 'The result was a jury verdict based on impermissible character evidence and few reliable facts,' wrote Judges Steven Menashi and Michael Park, both of whom were appointed by Trump in his first term. CNN's Paula Reid contributed to this report.
NBC News
a day ago
- Politics
- NBC News
Federal appeals court won't reconsider Trump's $5 million loss to E. Jean Carroll
President Donald Trump failed to persuade a federal appeals court to reconsider the $5 million verdict won by E. Jean Carroll after a jury found that he sexually abused and defamed the former magazine columnist in the 1990s. In an 8-2 vote, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan on Friday left intact its Dec. 30 decision by a three-judge panel upholding the jury award. Carroll, now 81, accused Trump of attacking her around 1996 in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in Manhattan, and defaming her in an October 2022 Truth Social post by denying her claim as a hoax. In his denial, which repeated a similar denial in June 2019, Trump said the former Elle columnist was 'not my type' and made up the rape claim to promote her memoir. Jurors decided in May 2023 that Trump had sexually assaulted Carroll and had defamed her by lying. They did not find that Trump raped Carroll, as she had claimed. The president, who turns 79 on Saturday, is separately asking the appeals court to throw out an $83 million jury verdict in January 2024 for defaming Carroll and damaging her reputation when the Republican first denied her rape claim. Oral arguments are scheduled for June 24. A further appeal of the $5 million verdict would go to the U.S. Supreme Court. A spokesman for Trump's lawyers said in a statement that Americans 'demand an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and a swift dismissal of all of the Witch Hunts, including the Democrat-funded Carroll Hoax, which will continue to be appealed.' The $5 million verdict included $2.98 million for defamation and $2.02 million for sexual assault. Carroll is 'very pleased' with Friday's order, her lawyer Roberta Kaplan said in a statement. 'Although President Trump continues to try every possible maneuver to challenge the findings of two separate juries, those efforts have failed.' Circuit Judges Steven Menashi and Michael Park, both appointed by Trump, dissented from the order. Menashi wrote that evidence in the case 'makes it more likely that President Trump believed that the lawsuit had been concocted by his political opposition — and therefore that he was not speaking with actual malice.' The judge also said the panel also improperly allowed 'stale' trial testimony about Trump's alleged groping of businesswoman Jessica Leeds on a plane in the late 1970s. In seeking reconsideration, Trump maintained that the trial judge erred in letting jurors review a 2005 'Access Hollywood' video of him bragging about his sexual prowess. He also challenged a 'pile-on' of inflammatory evidence that he mistreated Leeds and former People magazine writer Natasha Stoynoff, who accused Trump of forcibly kissing her at his Mar-a-Lago estate in 2005. Trump has denied Leeds' and Stoynoff's claims. In seeking to overturn the $83.3 million verdict, Trump argued that the Supreme Court's decision last July providing him substantial criminal immunity shields him from liability in Carroll's civil case. The verdict included $18.3 million of damages for emotional and reputational harm, and $65 million of punitive damages.
