Trump left the courtroom after Carroll’s lawyer asked the jury to decide how much he owed the writer.
Former US President Donald Trump has been ordered to pay $83.3 million to a writer accused of defamation after denying sexual assault claims.
On Friday, a jury of seven men and two women awarded former Elle magazine columnist E-Jean Carroll $18.3 million in compensatory damages and $65 million in punitive damages. I put it down.
The civil order, which drew gasps in a New York courtroom, far exceeds the more than $10 million in damages Carroll sought.
The award comes after another jury in May found President Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation of Carole and ordered him to pay her $5 million in damages. I was disappointed.
Both cases are civil cases, investigated using a low standard of preponderance of the evidence, and are not used to determine criminal guilt.
Jurors only asked how much Trump, 77, should pay for two statements he made when he denied Carroll’s allegations as president, but did not ask whether there was sexual assault. .
Carroll has accused Trump of forcing himself on her after a chance encounter at a New York department store in 1996.
President Trump has denied the allegations and accused Carroll of being a “complete fraud” trying to boost sales of her memoir.
In a statement released through a spokesperson after the verdict, Carroll, who testified that her reputation as a respected journalist was “shattered” by Trump’s denials, called the ruling “a tribute to all those who stand up when they are knocked down.” A huge victory for women and a huge defeat for all the bullies who tried to keep them back.”
Trump, a front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination in November, slammed the ruling, calling it “absolutely ridiculous.”
“Our legal system is out of control and being used as a political weapon,” President Trump wrote on social media. “This isn’t America!”
Mr. Trump was present at Friday’s hearing, but stormed out of the Manhattan courtroom while Mr. Carroll’s lawyers were making closing arguments.
The former president returned for closing arguments by his lawyers and some deliberations, but left the court again before the verdict was announced.
President Trump is also awaiting sentencing in a civil fraud trial in New York state, where his lawyers say he is facing ill-gotten gains from loans and transactions made using financial statements that exaggerate his wealth. If so, the company is seeking restitution of $370 million.
Trump also faces multiple criminal charges, including one in Georgia where he allegedly conspired to overturn the results of his 2020 presidential election loss to Joe Biden.