Appeals Court Orders Trump to Pay $5.8 Million to E. Jean Carroll in Sexual Assault Case

A federal appeals court in New York has upheld a verdict requiring Donald Trump to pay writer E. Jean Carroll $5.8 million in damages for sexual assault and defamation, rejecting his bid to block the payout.

Appeals Court Orders Trump to Pay $5.8 Million to E. Jean Carroll in Sexual Assault Case

A federal appeals court in New York on Wednesday upheld a verdict requiring Donald Trump to pay writer E. Jean Carroll $5.8 million in damages for sexual assault and defamation. The ruling clears the way for Carroll to collect the funds from court escrow.

Trump's attorneys immediately filed an appeal, but their request for an emergency order to halt the payout was denied, according to reporting by Novinky.cz.

The former president deposited the money into court escrow following a 2023 trial in which a jury found him liable for sexually assaulting Carroll in a Manhattan department store dressing room in 1996 and later defaming her. The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the lower courts' decision in late June. The original $5 million judgment has since grown to $5.8 million with accrued interest.

"Trump has delayed this case for years. It is time for him to pay the amount set by the judgment," wrote Appeals Judge Lewis Kaplan in the ruling. The judge noted that Carroll, 82, has faced death threats and sustained harassment as a result of Trump's public statements, and that the president has shown no remorse while continuing to attack her even after two separate verdicts.

Carroll first described the alleged assault in her 2019 memoir. After she went public, Trump denied knowing her and called her a liar, at one point stating she was "not his type." Carroll was able to file suit after New York State revised its laws to allow victims of past sexual abuse to bring civil claims that had previously expired under the statute of limitations.

Separately, Trump is also appealing an $83 million defamation award that a jury granted Carroll in a 2024 trial.

The president's representatives indicated they plan to challenge the latest ruling and accused political opponents of weaponizing the legal system against him. They argued that Judge Kaplan's decision should not take effect because Trump has asked the Supreme Court to reconsider its position.

Carroll's attorneys told the appeals court that their client had already waited more than three years for the jury's damages award and should not be made to wait any longer.

Source: Novinky.cz