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.
