A panel of federal judges on an appeals court in New York City has denied a request from former President Donald Trump to delay the imminent, second trial on court claims from E. Jean Carroll, a writer who previously stated that the ex-president sexually assaulted her in the 1990s.
She went to trial a first time on claims directly covering both those allegations and claimed defamation, winning, in general terms, jurors’ support. Trump is now facing down a scheduled, second trial that will cover the question of additional, financial penalties for accompanying claims of defamation. Carroll’s successful allegations of defamation stem from Trump’s antagonistic responses to her original accounting of having previously been targeted by the eventual president.
Carroll brought initial allegations of defamation over comments that Trump made while still president, which led to disputes over whether Trump was shielded from legal consequence by virtue of his government role. (There are some, established protections in a civil context specifically.) Trump then made antagonistic comments about Carroll again after he was no longer in office, allowing for the jury-upheld allegations of defamation that became part of the first trial. The presiding judge concluded there was enough of a substantive correlation between the initial and later accusations of defamation to allow for the second trial, which is scheduled for this month, to move forward only on questions of potential, financial penalties to impose on Trump.
Jurors at the first set of proceedings already penalized him $5 million. Those appeals judges didn’t include an explanation with their rejection of Trump’s attempt to put the trial proceedings on hold. He also recently failed in attempting to use arguments of presidential immunity — meaning legal protections stemming from his time serving as president — to halt proceedings. Trump, meanwhile, continues arguing for presidential immunity before a D.C. appeals court amid a criminal case over his post-2020 election schemes brought by the Justice Department’s Special Counsel Jack Smith.
