The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the $5 million civil judgment against President-elect Donald Trump for sexual abuse and defamation against E. Jean Carroll.
“On review for abuse of discretion, we conclude that Mr. Trump has not demonstrated that the district court erred in any of the challenged rulings,” wrote the court. “Further, he has not carried his burden to show that any claimed error or combination of claimed errors affected his substantial rights as required to warrant a new trial.”
Carroll claimed Trump raped her in 1996 at the Bergdorf Goodman across from Trump Tower.
In May 2023, a jury awarded Carroll “$5 million in damages for her battery and defamation claims.”
The jury concluded Trump defamed the author when he called a “hoax” and “con job.”
Trump argued the district court made an error when it admitted “the testimony of two women who alleged that Mr. Trump assaulted them in the past.” Trump also insisted the court should not have accepted “a recording of part of a 2005 conversation in which Mr. Trump described to another man how he kissed and grabbed women without first obtaining their consent.”
The court reached its decision by reviewing three rules:
“Rule 404(b) and Rules 413-415 all permit the introduction of evidence of other bad acts, including uncharged conduct,” explained the court. “Moreover, the text of Rules 413-415, like the text of Rule 404(b), ‘contains no intimation . . . that any preliminary showing is necessary before . . . evidence may be introduced for a proper purpose.’ Huddleston, 485 U.S. at 687-88 (holding that no preliminary finding is required under Rule 404(b)).”
So, this is the first judgment in this case.
In January, another jury decided Carroll should get an additional $83.3 million in the defamation case against Trump.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY