Judge Clarifies Civil Verdict: Trump Found to Have Raped E. Jean Carroll Under Common Definition
A federal judge in New York has clarified that the conduct a jury found Donald Trump liable for in a civil lawsuit brought by writer E. Jean Carroll meets broader definitions of rape, even though the jury did not use that technical term under New York law. According to the Washington Post, the clarification comes amid Trump’s efforts to overturn or reduce a $5 million verdict against him.
The judge’s clarification directly undercuts Trump’s lawyers’ central argument that the jury refused to find that he raped Carroll. Trump’s legal team had argued that the verdict’s specification of “sexual abuse” meant the jury stopped short of finding rape.
In May 2023, a civil jury in Manhattan found Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming Carroll, awarding her $5 million. The jury did not find that Carroll proved rape under the narrow statutory definition in the New York Penal Law.
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Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, in a later filing denying Trump’s motion for a new trial or reduction of damages, explained that the jury’s findings — including forcible digital penetration — correspond to what most people understand as rape. “The finding that Ms. Carroll failed to prove that she was ‘raped’ within the meaning of the New York Penal Law does not mean that she failed to prove that Mr. Trump ‘raped’ her as many people commonly understand the word ‘rape,’” Kaplan wrote.
The ruling came as Trump’s attorneys sought to argue that the verdict was excessive or flawed. The judge rejected those claims, holding that the evidence and verdict justified the award and that Trump’s motion was “entirely unpersuasive.”
Legal experts note this is a civil verdict, not a criminal conviction, and standards of proof differ. Trump has denied Carroll’s allegations. The case remains part of ongoing legal battles between the two, including subsequent appeals and related defamation rulings. What happens next could include further appeals of the judge’s clarification.
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