This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/01/nyregion/trump-carroll-rape-suit-cross-examination.html

The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Carroll’s Suit Against Trump Continues as Judge Denies Mistrial Motion Day 4 of the Trump Rape Case: Carroll’s Cross-Examination Is Complete
(29 days 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. E. Jean Carroll, the writer who has sued former President Donald J. Trump, accusing him of rape, completed three days on the witness stand Monday in a civil trial in Manhattan federal court, with a lawyer for Mr. Trump continuing to try to show up inconsistencies in her testimony.
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.” The stage was set for Ms. Carroll’s lawyers to call additional witnesses to bolster her case.
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. Monday was the second of two days of cross-examination of Ms. Carroll by lawyer Joseph Tacopina about her allegation that the ex-president raped her in a dressing room in a Manhattan department store 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. Mr. Trump, who has avoided coming to court, has denied all wrongdoing. On Monday morning, the former president’s lawyers filed an unsuccessful motion for a mistrial, arguing that the court had made “pervasive unfair and prejudicial rulings.”
She has accused the former president of going on to attack her in a dressing room in the lingerie department. Ms. Carroll says she visited Bergdorf Goodman one evening in the mid-1990s. As she was leaving through a revolving door, Mr. Trump entered 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.
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. Mr. Tacopina, in his questioning, focused on Ms. Carroll’s memory of what happened that day some 30 years ago. On Monday, he used his cross-examination to point out inconsistencies between her testimony and her previous interviews and depositions, trying to suggest that she had benefited from making the allegation.
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 about her 2019 appearance on an episode of a podcast called “The Maris Review,” during which Ms. Carroll said her life was “fabulous.”
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. “It is the way I present myself to the world,” Ms. Carroll testified. “I do not want anyone to know that I suffered,” she added.
“Listen, I was ashamed of what happened,” Ms. Carroll testified. “I thought it was my fault.” Mr. Tacopina also focused on her testimony that she had been fired from Elle magazine after Mr. Trump denied her allegation in 2019 and called her a liar. Mr. Tacopina questioned Ms. Carroll about an email exchange in which she suggested she was fired because she published an excerpt from her book in a competing outlet, New York magazine.
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. Ms. Carroll acknowledged that Nina Garcia, the editor in chief of Elle magazine, was “very angry” at her, but added that she took a hit when Mr. Trump “called me a liar for three straight days.”
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. “My trustworthiness was exploded,” Ms. Carroll said. “It was like — just crumbled, the foundation on which the whole column had rested for 27 years.”
“He didn’t call me names,” Ms. Carroll said. “He didn’t grind my face into the mud like Donald Trump did.” Mr. Tacopina appeared to struggle to get into any sort of rhythm during his cross-examination, with Ms. Carroll’s lawyers frequently objecting to questions and the judge sustaining those objections. At times, Mr. Tacopina struggled to even get his team to display evidence for the court.
Judge Lewis A. Kaplan denied a motion filed by Mr. Tacopina, asking him to declare a mistrial. 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. Among other complaints, Mr. Tacopina argued that the judge 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.” “There comes a point where the cumulative effect of its one-sided rulings manifests a deeper leaning towards one party or another,” Mr. Tacopina wrote.
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, testifying that she told two friends within a day of the attack. One told Ms. Carroll that what she had experienced was rape and that she needed to tell the police. A second told her not to tell anyone because Mr. Trump was powerful and his lawyers would bury her.
“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.” She kept silent for decades before writing about the event in a 2019 memoir.
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 sued Mr. Trump in November under a law that grants adult sexual abuse victims a one-year window to bring civil lawsuits against people they say abused them.
She kept silent for decades before writing about the event in the memoir. Her lawsuit asks that a jury find Mr. Trump liable for battery and defamation, order him to retract statements questioning her truthfulness and award her monetary damages.
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. The jury will determine how much, if anything, to award Ms. Carroll based on the suffering jury members believe she experienced.
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. It’s unclear who will testify next. Shawn G. Crowley, a lawyer for Ms. Carroll, said last week that the jury would hear from the two friends that Ms. Carroll confided in immediately after the alleged rape, Lisa Birnbach and Carol Martin.
Ms. Crowley also said the jury will hear from several other witnesses, including Dr. Leslie Lebowitz, a clinical psychologist and trauma specialist; a professor who is an expert in sociology and communications, Ashlee Humphreys; and two other women who have accused Mr. Trump of sexual assault, Jessica Leeds and Natasha Stoynoff.