E. Jean Carroll – Page 2 – Deep Left Field

The defamation lawsuit brought by writer E. Jean Carroll against failed one-term former president Donald Trump may go to the jury as soon as next Tuesday, and that’s when we’ll learn just how much jurors think Carroll deserves in financial damages.

The amount could be astronomical, according to ABC News, which notes the decision is left to the jury.

First, the jury will have to decide if Trump committed battery when he allegedly raped her in the mid-1990s.

If they decide that Trump committed battery, they are expected to be asked to what degree. After that, Carroll’s attorney has proposed that jurors be asked separately whether Carroll has proven that Trump engaged in forcible touching, sexual abuse and rape. The judge has yet to make a decision on that proposal.

If the jury determines that Trump did indeed engage in battery, their next decision will be to decide how much to award in compensatory and punitive damages. There is no limit to how much they could award to Carroll, and that’s what should have the ex-president and his attorneys worried.

In similar cases of defamation, awards have gone as high as the $45.2 million handed down by a Texas jury against right-wing conspiracy theorist and broadcaster Alex Jones. Jones was accused of calling the Sandy Hook mass shooting a “staged event” and suggesting that the children killed had been “crisis actors” used to push for more federal gun control laws.

Since Trump often brags about being rich, that could also play a role in the jury’s decision of how much money to award Carroll, especially since they will have heard testimony that the former president raped her and then made defamatory statements when she dared to accuse him of the crime.

The indicted ex-president is also facing legal problems in Georgia, New York, and possible federal criminal charges for his mishandling of classified documents.

Despite insisting for weeks that he would not play any role whatsoever in the defamation trial brought against him by writer E. Jean Carroll, failed one-term former president Donald Trump is now suggesting that he will cut his trip to Ireland short and return to New York so he can “confront” his accuser.

The Evening Standard reports Trump made the remarks Thursday while golfing at his resort near the village of of Doonbeg, Co Clare.

“I’m going back to New York. I was falsely accused by this woman, I have no idea who she is – it’s ridiculous,” he said.

He said he is having to cut his trip to Ireland short because of the trial.

“I’ll be going back early because a woman made a claim that is totally false, it’s fake.”

He said his accuser is a Democrat and the judge is a “rough judge”.

“He doesn’t like me very much, he was appointed by Bill Clinton,” he said.

He added: “It’s a disgrace but we have to do it, it’s a part of life.

“It’s a fake claim like all the other claims, just like ‘Russia Russia Russia’.”

The indicted ex-president also called the defamation lawsuit a “political scam.”

“Because of that I have to leave Ireland and I have to leave Scotland where I have great properties, I have to leave early.
“I don’t have to but I choose to.”

Trump also suggested that the Carroll case is politically motivated because he’s running for president next year.

“This is a political attack. This is the only way they think they can win the election because (Joe) Biden is losing.”

The disgraced former president’s attorneys, however, may not allow him to testify under oath in New York, if only because doing so would open him up to potential perjury charges because he’s known to lie about everything.