Jury finds Donald Trump liable in civil rape trial

…awards accuser $5mn in damages The jury seated in New York has found former President of the United States, Donald Trump, liable of sexual assault in a case involving writer, Jean E. Carroll. The former Elle magazine columnist filed a defamation and battery suit against Trump last year, after a law took effect in New York that gave victims of sexual assault a one-year window to sue their alleged abusers decades after attacks may have occurred. Testifying before the jury last week, Carroll described to jurors how an encounter with Trump in a Manhattan store quickly turned violent. She said that after Trump playfully asked her for advice on buying a women’s lingerie gift, he “shoved” her against the wall of the dressing room. “All his weight (was) against my chest. He pulled down my tights. I was pushing him back,” she said. Trump had vehemently denied the allegations via his social media platform, ‘Truth Social’, where he tagged Carroll’s claim, a “complete con job”, and the suit, “a made up scam”. The nine-person jury reached a decision on Tuesday, finding Trump liable of sexual assault but not rape. He was also found liable for defamation, for calling her claims a “hoax”. On the verdict sheet, the jury ticked – “no” regarding the question of if the plaintiff had proven “by a preponderance of the evidence” that “Mr. Trump raped Ms. Carroll,”. On the contrary, the jury ticked “yes”, when asked if she had proven “by a preponderance of the evidence” that Mr. Trump sexually abused her. The jury also awarded Carroll $5 million in damages.