If the jury upholds plaintiff EJ Carroll, it will be the first time Trump has been prosecuted for sexual assault. The former US president denies the accusations, but he faces many other charges and cases.
An American jury began its deliberations on Tuesday to determine the possibility of charging former President Donald Trump in the rape case filed by a former American journalist in the mid-1990s. And if the nine-person jury supports the plaintiff, E. Jane Carroll, it will be the first time that Trump has been legally prosecuted for sexual assault.
However, Trump denies the accusations and has not been tried for any of them. A New York jury is considering a civil suit claiming unspecified damages.
Carroll, 79, last year filed a lawsuit against Trump, accusing him of raping her in the dressing room at the luxury Bergdof Goodman department store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan in 1996. Carroll, a former Elle magazine columnist, also accuses Trump of defaming her by accusing her of lying. After she disclosed the case publicly in 2019.
Carroll revealed the case for the first time in excerpts from her book published by “New York Magazine” in 2019. Trump responded at the time, saying that he had never met her and that she was “a complete lie.” Carroll said before the civil court, which began its sessions two weeks ago, that the alleged assault created a sense of “shame” and made her unable to have romantic relationships.
Testimony of two other women
She added that she had waited more than 20 years to reveal the incident because she was “afraid” of Trump. Her lawyers asked two other women to testify that Trump sexually assaulted them decades ago.
Former businesswoman Jessica Leeds told Manhattan federal court that Trump sexually harassed her during a plane trip in the United States in the 1970s. While journalist Natasha Stoynoff said Trump kissed her without her consent during an interview at his Mar-a-Lago residence in 2005.
About a dozen women have accused Trump of sexual harassment ahead of the 2016 election that brought him to the White House. But he denies all accusations and has not been prosecuted for any of them. The lawsuit filed by Carroll cannot lead to any criminal prosecutions.
Pornographic actress lawsuit
Trump did not attend any hearings of the trial, and his lawyers did not call witnesses. A taped sworn statement by Trump was shown to the jury in October. In his affidavit, Trump calls Carroll a “liar” and “a really sick person.” His lawyers say Carroll framed the accusation “for money, political reasons and prestige”.
Carroll filed the lawsuit under a New York law that gives sexual harassment victims a year to pursue alleged abusers decades after the alleged assault. The lawsuit accuses Trump of “rape” and defamation over statements that caused “emotional, professional, and reputational harm.”
The jury has to consider whether Carroll’s attorneys have proven the case by evidence, which is less burdensome compared to criminal trials that require proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
This comes at a time when the 76-year-old former president (2017-2021) is seeking to win the Republican nomination to fight US President Joe Biden in November 2024, but he is facing increasing lawsuits.
In early April, Trump was formally charged with 34 counts of accounting and tax fraud related to payments to cover up several cases, including a sexual relationship with porn actress Stormy Daniels, which he also denied.
Among the most prominent cases haunting the forty-fifth president of the United States are the accusations leveled against him of exerting pressure on officials of the electoral process in the state of Georgia in 2020, in addition to an investigation into his handling of the White House archives.
