The jury came down with a not-so-shocking ruling in the E. Jean Carroll rape case. Donald Trump is liable for some type of sexual abuse, but not rape.
They awarded Carroll $5 million in damages.
The entire case was built on hearsay, but Carroll’s legal team called nine witnesses in total, creating a compelling emotional argument in their case. Trump called none.
Little evidence strengthened Carroll’s case, as there were no other witnesses involved. The day in question revolves around a moment in 1996 when Trump encountered Carroll shopping at Bergdorf Goodman’s, a high-end department store. He, according to Carroll, started asking her advice on what gift he should purchase for a woman he liked.
They went to another floor, where lingerie was located, when, according to Carroll, Trump assaulted her in a dressing room.
While those events could not be confirmed by anyone other than Carroll, an employee working at the store then noted the floor was most likely empty, indicating that if nothing else, Trump’s guilt was entirely possible.
Another witness shared their own supposed sexual assault stories, many of which have been covered heavily in the media.
I wrote about the case last week, predicting that there wasn’t enough to single out Trump for rape, but that his prior incidents should allow the jury to feel sympathetic towards Carroll. That’s exactly what happened.
Trump made the situation worse for himself by publicly addressing the allegations and calling them a hoax. He, unsurprisingly, was found guilty of defaming Carroll as well.
One witness who testified was a journalism professor at Northwestern. She said that the reputational damage to Carroll’s career, also a journalist, was 3 million dollars.
So the majority of what Trump has to pay is due to the reputational damage effects.
This verdict is not likely to hurt Trump long term, as he wasn’t singled out for the worst of the accusations. Still, as mentioned previously, he should have just silently settled for a lesser amount, as some sort of declaration of guilt on the jury’s part was highly likely
But ultimately, this is a story that has two victors. Carroll for accruing a hefty sum, and Trump for largely being able to keep his reputation intact.
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