Current:Home > MyJudge rejects Trump's counterclaim against E. Jean Carroll-LoTradeCoin
Judge rejects Trump's counterclaim against E. Jean Carroll
View Date:2024-12-23 21:46:38
A federal judge in New York on Monday rejected former President Donald Trump's counterclaim against former Elle magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll.
Trump accused Carroll of defaming him with statements she made in media appearances following her successful defamation and battery lawsuit against him, which resulted in a $5 million damage award. Trump's counterclaim said Carroll's statements caused "significant harm to his reputation," making him deserving of compensatory and punitive damages.
Carroll's remarks came after a New York jury in May found Trump liable for sexually assaulting her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the 1990s, then defaming her in a 2022 Truth Social post by calling her allegations "a Hoax and a lie."
MORE: Donald Trump sues E. Jean Carroll with his own claims of defamation
In her media appearances following the verdict, Carroll insisted that Trump had raped her despite the jury finding Carroll did not prove Trump raped her as the term is defined in New York penal law. Instead the jury found Trump "sexually abused" Carroll.
Judge Lewis Kaplan said the jury's finding "implicitly determined that he forcibly penetrated her" with his fingers.
"[I]n other words, that Mr. Trump in fact did 'rape' Ms. Carroll as that term commonly is used and understood in contexts outside New York Penal Law," Kaplan wrote in granting Carroll's motion to dismiss Trump's counterclaim.
"The instructions with respect to the rape question thus made clear that if the jury found that Mr. Trump forcibly penetrated Ms. Carroll's vagina with his fingers, but not also with his penis, it was obliged to answer 'no' to the rape question," the judge wrote. "However, if it found that Mr. Trump forcibly penetrated Ms. Carroll digitally, it was obliged to answer 'yes' to the sexual abuse question, as the New York Penal Law definition of 'sexual abuse' encompasses such conduct."
Carroll's original defamation lawsuit, based on statements Trump made in 2019, is scheduled to go to trial in January.
Responding to Monday's ruling, Carroll's attorney, Roberta Kaplan, said they were pleased that the court dismissed Trump's counterclaim.
"That means that the January 15th jury trial will be limited to a narrow set of issues and shouldn't take very long to complete," Kaplan said. "E. Jean Carroll looks forward to obtaining additional compensatory and punitive damages based on the original defamatory statements Donald Trump made in 2019."
veryGood! (547)
Related
- Let Demi Moore’s Iconic Fashion Give You More Inspiration
- Oklahoma gas pipeline explodes, shooting flames 500 feet into the air
- Elmo takes a turn as a therapist after asking, 'How is everybody doing?'
- Launching today: Reporter Kristen Dahlgren's Pink Eraser Project seeks to end breast cancer as we know it
- Review: 'Emilia Pérez' is the most wildly original film you'll see in 2024
- Family of child burned in over-chlorinated resort pool gets $26 million settlement
- Super Bowl 58 uniforms: What Kansas City Chiefs, San Francisco 49ers will wear in Las Vegas
- Hacked-up bodies found inside coolers aboard trucks — along with warning message from Mexican cartel
- Stressing over Election Day? Try these apps and tools to calm your nerves
- Preliminary test crashes indicate the nation’s guardrail system can’t handle heavy electric vehicles
Ranking
- Dick Van Dyke says he 'fortunately' won't be around for Trump's second presidency
- Israel says 3 terror suspects killed in rare raid inside West Bank hospital
- Dua Lipa and Callum Turner's PDA-Filled Daytime Outing May Just Blow Your Mind
- Elon Musk cannot keep Tesla pay package worth more than $55 billion, judge rules
- Timothée Chalamet Details How He Transformed Into Bob Dylan for Movie
- Jason and Travis Kelce Prove Taylor Swift is the Real MVP for Her “Rookie Year”
- Laser strikes against aircraft including airline planes have surged to a new record, the FAA says
- How 'Poor Things' actor Emma Stone turns her anxiety into a 'superpower'
Recommendation
-
Cleveland Browns’ Hakeem Adeniji Shares Stillbirth of Baby Boy Days Before Due Date
-
Could seaweed help us survive a nuclear winter? A new study says yes.
-
Illinois man wins $3 million scratch-off game, runs into 7-Eleven to hug store owner
-
Stock market today: Asia markets mixed ahead of Fed decision; China economic data disappoint
-
Justice Department says jail conditions in Georgia’s Fulton County violate detainee rights
-
Taiwan holds military drills to defend against the threat of a Chinese invasion
-
Kelly Clarkson Shares How Pre-Diabetic Diagnosis Led Her to Lose Weight
-
Joel Embiid leaves game, Steph Curry scores 37 as Warriors defeat 76ers