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What to Know About E. Jean Carroll’s Lawsuit Against Donald Trump Carroll’s Suit Against Trump Continues as Judge Denies Mistrial Motion
(about 4 hours later)
The writer E. Jean Carroll’s case accusing Donald J. Trump of raping her in a department-store dressing room continues Monday in Federal District Court in Manhattan.The writer E. Jean Carroll’s case accusing Donald J. Trump of raping her in a department-store dressing room continues Monday in Federal District Court in Manhattan.
The case against the former president, who has denied all wrongdoing, began last Tuesday and was expected to last one to two weeks. Mr. Trump’s lawyers on Monday filed a motion for a mistrial, arguing that the court had made “pervasive unfair and prejudicial rulings.” The case against the former president, who has denied all wrongdoing, began last Tuesday and was expected to last one to two weeks. Mr. Trump’s lawyers on Monday filed an unsuccessful motion for a mistrial, arguing that the court had made “pervasive unfair and prejudicial rulings.”
Here’s what to know about the trial so far: Ms. Carroll, a former advice columnist for Elle magazine, says she visited Bergdorf Goodman, a department store where she was a regular shopper, one evening in the mid-1990s.
Ms. Carroll, a former advice columnist for Elle magazine, says she visited the luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman, where she was a regular shopper, one evening in the mid-1990s. As she was leaving through a revolving side door on 58th Street, Mr. Trump entered through the same door, and recognized her, the suit says, and persuaded her to help him shop for a gift for a female friend.
As she was leaving through a revolving side door on 58th Street, Mr. Trump entered through the same door, and recognized her, the suit says, and persuaded her to help him shop for a gift for a female friend. She has accused the former president of going on to attack her in a dressing room in the lingerie department. She has accused the former president of going on to attack her in a dressing room in the lingerie department.
Mr. Trump’s lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, filed the motion asking Judge Lewis A. Kaplan to declare a mistrial. Among other complaints, Mr. Tacopina argued that the judge had mischaracterized evidence to favor Ms. Carroll and improperly bolster her testimony; allowed her to note that Mr. Trump had two tables’ worth of lawyers while prohibiting the defense from noting she had a similar number; and wrongly sustained “argumentative” objections to his questions. Joseph Tacopina, a lawyer for Mr. Trump, spent last week questioning Ms. Carroll about what exactly she says happened in the dressing room. On Monday, his cross-examination pivoted to what she decided to do afterward.
The mood on Monday wasn’t as tense as it was last week, but there were still moments of frustration amid the stop-and-start questioning.
Mr. Tacopina asked Ms. Carroll why she had not called the police after the alleged assault, and why she had called the police when children vandalized a mailbox that belonged to an actor she knew. He asked if she would confirm that she would “call the police if a mailbox was attacked” but not when she said she was “personally attacked” by Mr. Trump.
“Listen, I was ashamed of what happened,” Ms. Carroll testified. “I thought it was my fault.”
It is common for people who are sexually assaulted to not come forward right away, and those who are accusing someone powerful face additional barriers to speaking up. Only 310 out of every 1,000 sexual assaults are reported to police, according to RAINN, the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network.
Mr. Tacopina also asked Ms. Carroll how she felt about Mr. Trump as a politician, and why she had decided to sue him. And he asked why she hadn’t filed a lawsuit against Les Moonves, CBS’s former chief executive, whom she had also accused of sexually assaulting her in her 2019 memoir, allegations that Mr. Moonves denies.
“He didn’t call me names,” Ms. Carroll said. “He didn’t grind my face into the mud like Donald Trump did.”
Judge Lewis A. Kaplan denied a motion filed by Mr. Tacopina, asking him to declare a mistrial.
Among other complaints, Mr. Tacopina had argued that the judge had mischaracterized evidence to favor Ms. Carroll and improperly bolster her testimony; allowed her to note that Mr. Trump had two tables’ worth of lawyers while prohibiting the defense from noting she had a similar number; and wrongly sustained “argumentative” objections to his questions.
“While defendant recognizes that the court has discretion with respect to evidentiary matters,” Mr. Tacopina wrote, “there comes a point where the cumulative effect of its one-sided rulings manifests a deeper leaning towards one party or another.”“While defendant recognizes that the court has discretion with respect to evidentiary matters,” Mr. Tacopina wrote, “there comes a point where the cumulative effect of its one-sided rulings manifests a deeper leaning towards one party or another.”
Since lawyers gave their opening statements last week, Ms. Carroll has been the main witness. She related her story in graphic detail.Since lawyers gave their opening statements last week, Ms. Carroll has been the main witness. She related her story in graphic detail.
“I am here because Donald Trump raped me, and when I wrote about it, he said it didn’t happen,” Ms. Carroll said. “He lied and shattered my reputation, and I am here to try to get my life back.”“I am here because Donald Trump raped me, and when I wrote about it, he said it didn’t happen,” Ms. Carroll said. “He lied and shattered my reputation, and I am here to try to get my life back.”
Ms. Carroll testified that she told two friends about her experience within a day of the attack. One told her she had been raped and that she needed to go to the police. A second told her not to tell anyone because Mr. Trump was powerful and had a team of lawyers who would bury her.Ms. Carroll testified that she told two friends about her experience within a day of the attack. One told her she had been raped and that she needed to go to the police. A second told her not to tell anyone because Mr. Trump was powerful and had a team of lawyers who would bury her.
She kept silent for decades before writing about the event in a 2019 memoir. She kept silent for decades before writing about the event in the memoir.
On Thursday, Mr. Tacopina began his cross-examination. In questioning Ms. Carroll, he tried to show inconsistencies between her accounts in court and deposition testimony, in public statements and in a book and magazine excerpt she published in 2019, where she first publicly accused Mr. Trump of rape.
The lawyer pressed Ms. Carroll repeatedly about her inability to remember precisely when in 1995 or 1996 the alleged encounter occurred, and asked her why she had not screamed or spoken to the police afterward.
“It all comes down to, do you believe the unbelievable?” Mr. Tacopina said during his opening statement.
His cross-examination continues Monday.
Ms. Carroll sued Mr. Trump in November under a new state law in New York that grants adult sexual abuse victims a one-year window to bring civil lawsuits against people they say abused them.Ms. Carroll sued Mr. Trump in November under a new state law in New York that grants adult sexual abuse victims a one-year window to bring civil lawsuits against people they say abused them.
Her lawsuit, filed in federal court because she and Mr. Trump live in different states, asks that a jury find Mr. Trump liable for battery and defamation, and award her monetary damages. Her lawsuit, filed in federal court because she and Mr. Trump live in different states, asks that a jury find Mr. Trump liable for battery and defamation, make him retract statements about her questioning her truthfulness and award her monetary damages.