Aiexpress – After the judge announced the verdict in the defamation trial involving writer E Jean Carroll and former president Donald Trump, he advised the jurors to maintain their anonymity and refrain from disclosing their identities.
After the two-week trial, the jurors, who were intentionally kept anonymous due to the high-profile nature of the case, are now allowed to reveal their names if they choose to do so.
Judge Lewis Kaplan cautioned the individuals in the courtroom, advising them to never reveal their involvement as jurors.
Judge Kaplan did not provide a specific rationale for his advice. However, past legal cases involving the former president have resulted in the emergence of threats of violence against both jurors and judges by Trump supporters.
After listening to arguments for two weeks, the nine-member jury has reached a verdict in the second trial between Ms. Carroll and Mr. Trump. Following about three hours of deliberations, the jury has ordered Mr. Trump to pay $83.3 million in damages to Ms. Carroll. Despite her persistent claims of sexual assault by Mr. Trump in a department store dressing room during the mid-1990s, he consistently denied any wrongdoing.
Last year, a jury found Mr. Trump liable for sexually abusing Ms. Carroll and defaming her. This trial solely focused on determining the amount of damages Mr. Trump owed to Ms. Carroll.
The jury, consisting of two women and seven men, came to a unanimous decision on Friday afternoon. They awarded Ms. Carroll a total of $18.3 million in compensatory damages, along with an additional $65 million in punitive damages.
In addition to the previous jury’s decision to award Ms. Carroll $5 million in compensatory and punitive damages, these damages have been incurred.
Mr. Trump expressed his frustration with the proceedings on Truth Social, stating that they were “absolutely ridiculous!”
“I strongly disagree with both verdicts and I will be appealing against this entire Biden Directed Witch Hunt that is solely focused on me and the Republican Party. Our legal system is out of control and it is being used as a political weapon. They have stripped away all our First Amendment rights. This is not what America stands for!” he asserted, despite the lack of evidence that President Joe Biden has instructed the Department of Justice to specifically target Mr. Trump.
The trial spanned two weeks in a federal court in Manhattan, where Mr. Trump’s attorneys fiercely contested the case. Meanwhile, the former president targeted Ms. Carroll through press conferences and on Truth Social, possibly causing further harm to her reputation.
Ms Carroll’s attorneys urged the jury to grant her a substantial amount of damages, considering the deliberate nature of Mr. Trump’s defamation, his persistent attacks on her, and his considerable wealth.
