Former President Trump is staring at nearly $100 million in total damages against advice columnist E. Gene Carroll after a jury handed him a victory in his second trial on Friday.
The latest ruling orders Trump to pay $83.3 million in defamation charges decades ago when Carroll came forward accusing the then-president of sexual assault in 2019.
Here are five takeaways from the verdict and the fast-paced trial.
That's a lot of money from the jury.
E. Gene Carroll appears in federal court in New York on Friday, January 26, 2024. Her jury told Carroll that former President Donald Trump, who accused her of sexual assault, damaged her reputation by calling her a liar, and she awarded him an additional $83.3 million. The court issued a judgment awarding compensation. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
The $83.3 million verdict far exceeded the $5 million Carroll received in a separate trial last year in which President Trump was found guilty of sexually abusing a columnist and defaming him in separate comments. .
The staggering amount comes after Carroll's lawyers asked the jury in closing arguments to recover at least $24 million.
However, the demand included only damages. Carroll's lawyers argued against jurors seeking punitive damages, which were meant to deter future conduct and ultimately accounted for the lion's share of the total.
The $83.3 million includes $18.3 million in compensatory damages ($11 million for reputation remediation programs and $7.3 million in additional funds) and $65 million in punitive damages.
The jury's decision to award large punitive damages is similar to a recent defamation judgment against Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor who became Mr. Trump's personal lawyer. Two Georgia election officials have sued Giuliani, accusing them of falsely claiming that they committed voter fraud after the 2020 election.
Mr. Giuliani was ordered to pay approximately $148 million, of which approximately $75 million was punitive damages.
Both Trump and Giuliani's lawsuits have racked up huge amounts of money, but Dominion Voting Systems' reputation against Fox News over the network's coverage of massive, unsubstantiated election fraud allegations in 2020 That was less than the $787 million that was settled last year in a defamation lawsuit.
Trump camp is furious
Alina Haba, one of former President Donald Trump's lawyers, speaks to members of the media outside a federal courthouse in New York on Friday, January 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Before, during and after the trial, Trump and his team made their anger clear.
In recent weeks alone, President Trump has attacked Carroll dozens of times on his Truth Social platform, while also calling District Judge Lewis Kaplan, an appointee of former President Clinton, a “mean judge” and a “Trump hater.” criticized.
“There is no more justice in America. Our justice system is broken and unfair!” Trump I wrote it on Truth Social Following Friday's ruling.
That anger was felt in the courtroom, where the former president voluntarily attended much of the trial, sometimes animatedly, and could be heard venting his frustrations at his lawyers.
By the end of the trial, the former president and his team were left shaking their heads almost every time Kaplan dissented and ruled against Trump.
“This is not America, this is not America, this is not America,” President Trump told the courtroom audience after giving brief testimony Thursday.
Mr. Kaplan has at times been tough on Mr. Trump's general counsel and broader team.
Kaplan said Friday that the former president's chief lawyer, Alina Habba, is “on the verge of spending some time in captivity.” Minutes later, Trump told Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn, who was sitting behind Trump, that he was moving around too much and was distracted, and ordered Epshteyn not to get up from his seat.
And earlier this week, a judge removed President Trump's spokesman Stephen Chan from the courtroom after his cellphone alarm went off.
The jury needed some time.
In this courtroom sketch, Monday, January 22, 2024, Donald Trump sits next to his attorney Alina Haba, in the foreground right, as Judge Lewis Kaplan tells jurors that due to a fellow juror's illness, I hear him explain that he was forced into a last-minute delay in federal court. , in New York. E. Jean Carroll is seated at top right. (Elizabeth Williams, via AP)
The jury's verdict came after less than three hours of deliberation. The short time frame also included time for lunch.
The nine jurors returned to deliberate at 1:41 p.m., and court officials were notified of the verdict by 4:15 p.m. The jury returned to court minutes later and returned a unanimous verdict.
At Carroll's first trial last year, the jury similarly reached a verdict within hours.
President Trump says he will appeal
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a primary election night party in Nashua, New Hampshire, Tuesday, January 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Within minutes of the verdict being handed down, President Trump vowed to appeal the verdict.
The challenge raises the possibility that the jury's verdict will be overturned in the future, but Trump could still have to cough up $83 million by then.
Since a jury returned a sexual assault verdict against Trump last year, the former president has been appealing the case, but still had to deposit a check for $5.55 million.
President Trump uses court appearances for political gain
Former President Donald Trump departs from his New York apartment on Friday, January 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
In recent weeks, President Trump, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination and firmly on track to win the nomination, has turned the trial into a campaign hiatus, renewing his resolve to appear in various courts. It shows.
In the week leading up to the Iowa caucuses, Mr. Trump spent two days in court on other cases, attended appellate arguments on immunity in one of the indictments, and gave closing arguments in a civil fraud trial in New York. also appeared in court.
Iowa voters then handed Trump a historic victory, with the former president winning all but one county.
The next day, as the campaign moved to New Hampshire, Carroll's trial against Trump began.
The former president attended nearly all of the libel trial, except for the day he attended his mother-in-law's funeral and the day the jury returned its verdict.
While the trial was underway, Trump won New Hampshire, but his arch-rival Nikki Haley was hoping to win and begin defeating the former president.
After the primary election, Trump took the stand briefly when the trial resumed, but he only testified for about two minutes due to severe restrictions from the judge.
But there was a time when a judge threatened to throw him out after he sat next to his lawyer and yelled profanities for days on end. Then, minutes after Carroll's closing argument on Friday, Trump suddenly stood up and walked away.
Carroll's lawyers, who were seated in front of Trump's team, told the judge multiple times that Trump could be heard attacking Carroll under his breath and making comments denying the sexual assault accusations. Appealed.
The scene was in stark contrast to Carroll's trial against Trump last year, when Trump was not in court at all and did not testify.
The former president recently expressed regret for not attending, blaming his lawyers for advising Trump that the case was within his jurisdiction. One of the former president's lawyers in the case withdrew his legal representation just before the latest trial began, without any explanation.
President Trump has vowed to attend all trials amid four criminal indictments and a campaign season.
