Tuesday, May 9 was an uncharacteristically good day for women. Symbolically, for women as a demographic. But specifically for three women.
The court denied Tory Lanez a new trial for shooting Megan Thee Stallion. A judge tossed Marilyn Manson’s lawsuit against Evan Rachel Wood.
And E. Jean Carroll triumphed in court over disgraced former president Donald Trump.
The jury found him liable in the battery and defamation lawsuit. The judge awarded Carroll a total $5 million in damages.
On Tuesday, May 9, the jury took only three hours to deliberate.
A lot of people try to read into how long a jury takes to deliberate. In many cases, the assumption is that jurors are more likely to debate at length when finding someone guilty or awarding damages. By that logic, this “extended lunch” deliberation period would have been bad news for E. Jean Carroll.
Instead, the jury found Trump legally liable for both defaming the columnist and for sexually abusing her.
The jury did not find that she proved the case of rape during the lawsuit.
However, it looks like she made a solid case for everything else while suing Trump for battery and defamation.
The result? A total of about $5 million in damages. Trump, infamous for avoiding paying bills, will have to pay up.
The lawsuit refers to Trump’s sexual abuse of Carroll in 1996. And to the defamation that followed.
At the time, the two had run into each other at a Manhattan department store and shopped together. After that, as the jury has concluded, Trump attacked her in the dressing room.
Trump accused Carroll of lying, referring to the allegation as a “hoax.” He also publicly declared that he would not have raped her because she was not his type. Obviously, that’s one of the worst defenses that one can put forward.
It probably did not help his case that he referred to Carroll as a “whackjob” during his deposition in the case.
In a defamation lawsuit, you probably don’t want to showcase your willingness to insult the person suing you. Obviously.
Perhaps his attorneys advised him of this. One can only guess at what thoughts might crawl their way through his mind.
E. Jean Carroll released a statement following her courtroom vindication.
“I filed this lawsuit against Donald Trump to clear my name and to get my life back,” Carroll noted. “Today, the world finally knows the truth.”
She expressed: “This victory is not just for me but for every woman who has suffered because she was not believed.”
Meanwhile, CNN is giving Trump a town hall special as part of his 2024 presidential campaign. Gross!
David Zaslav, widely reviled owner of Warner Bros Discovery and thus CNN, has defended the move. Of course he has.
We don’t know if Trump will address this at the town hall, but we’re sure that whatever he says will be vile.
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