Donald Trump held liable for sexual abuse, defamation: What the civil case against him was about

Trump’s lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, told reporters outside the Manhattan federal court that the former president would appeal the verdict. Meanwhile, on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump posted “I have absolutely no idea who this woman (Carroll) is. This verdict is a disgrace — a continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time!”

As Carroll had filed a civil case against Trump, and not a criminal case, he has not been convicted of any crime and will not go to prison. It’s unclear if the verdict would have any implications on Trump’s third presidential bid.

The judgement, though, adds to the former president’s legal woes as he faces a barrage of cases. Trump is fighting a New York criminal case related to hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels. He is also under investigation over alleged attempted interference in Georgia during the 2020 election, possible mishandling of classified documents as well as for his role in the insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. Trump has denied all the allegations.

What did Carroll say about Trump?

In her testimony during the trial, Carroll said the incident took place at a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in Manhattan, New York, in either 1995 or 1996, when Trump approached her and struck up a conversation.

He then asked her to try on a piece of lingerie that he was looking to purchase for a female friend. As the two reached the dressing room, Carroll said Trump “shut the door and shoved me up against the wall.”

“I was confused. I laughed,” she told the court, adding that she pushed Trump back but he “thurst” her into the wall again. Carroll said Trump then pulled down her tights and forced his fingers into her vagina and then his penis, The New York Times reported.

She finally managed to break free after she stamped her heels and used her knee to push Trump off her. Carroll then fled the store.

“Other than telling two friends, she kept the encounter a secret for more than 20 years until she disclosed it in a 2019 book excerpt in New York magazine,” NYT said.

What was Trump’s response?

When the allegations first surfaced in 2019, Trump, who at the time was serving as the 45th US President, claimed he had “never met her” and denied raping her by telling the White House press corps that Carrol was “not [his] type”.

As per a report by The Independent, he also accused her of lying to boost sales of her memoir.

“She is trying to sell a new book – that should indicate her motivation,” Trump said, adding that her book “should be sold in the fiction section”.

As a result, Carroll sued Trump the same year for defamation, alleging his denials had caused her “to suffer reputational, emotional, and professional harm” and said she was filing the lawsuit against him “to obtain redress for those injuries and to demonstrate that even a man as powerful as Trump can be held accountable under the rule of law”.

She couldn’t have filed a lawsuit over Trump’s sexual assault in 2019 as the statute of limitation on the incident had been exceeded.

In November 2022, however, she was able to file a civil case against him after New York state enacted the Adult Survivors Act (ASA), which “created a one-year suspension of statutes of limitations for rape and other civil claims arising from allegations of sexual misconduct.,” The Independent said in the report.

It also mentioned that the new case accused Trump of battery and added a new defamation allegation based on his recent social media posts in which he called Carroll a “complete con job”.

What did the verdict say?

The jury gave its unanimous verdict on Tuesday after deliberating for around three hours. It found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll and awarded her $5 million in damages, which included the defamation claim. But it rejected her accusation of Trump raping her. There is no clarity on “why jurors chose the lesser offence of abuse over rape,” the NYT said.

The jury also found the former president liable for wanton disregard — an individual’s extreme lack of care for the well-being or rights of another individual — and defamation as he made false statements against Carroll. Its six men and three women members found that Trump “acted with actual malice and that Ms Carroll had been injured”, The Independent mentioned.

What is the difference between a civil case and a criminal case?

According to the Mississippi Bar Association’s website, although both civil and criminal cases consider violations of people’s rights and who is the culprit, they differ in structure, burdens of proof, and penalties.

While criminal cases are filed when someone breaks a law or commits a criminal offence, which generally results in a prison sentence, civil cases handle almost all other disputes and typically aim for some sort of recovery.

Moreover, “criminal law considers a crime an act against society rather than an individual. Therefore, the government brings legal action against a person for committing a crime,” unlike civil cases, which are usually filed by a private party, typically an individual or corporation.

The burden of proof is much higher in criminal cases in comparison to civil cases as the defendant, if found guilty, may have to not only pay a fine but also serve time in jail or prison. Therefore, “the justice system also includes safeguards to protect a defendant’s rights,” the website of the Mississippi Bar Association mentioned.

“In civil matters, a preponderance of evidence showing a more than 50 per cent chance that one of the parties is at fault is all that’s necessary,” it added.

In India, a similar distinction exists between criminal and civil cases. Matters such as divorce and estate distribution come under civil cases, which are filed by individuals, whereas, criminal cases involve the State or Central government suing someone for committing a crime.