Author E Jean Carroll is accusing the previous US president of defaming her in 2019 by denying he had attacked her in a division retailer dressing room.
Former US President Donald Trump has arrived in a New York courtroom to defend himself for a second time in opposition to prices that he defamed author E Jean Carroll after she accused him of rape.
Trump, who has mentioned he desires to testify on the civil trial, sat two tables behind Carroll, who’s accusing him of defaming her in 2019 by denying he had attacked her in a Bergdorf Goodman division retailer dressing room in Manhattan.
Carroll, 80, is looking for at the least $10m in damages.
US District Choose Lewis Kaplan, who’s overseeing the case, instructed potential jurors on Tuesday that they might solely have to think about how a lot Trump ought to pay Carroll in damages, not whether or not the alleged assault came about or whether or not Trump lied about it.
He added that the trial is predicted to final three to 5 days.
Trump has solid himself because the sufferer of political persecution and mentioned Kaplan ought to dismiss the case.
“Choose Kaplan ought to put this complete corrupt, Crooked Joe Biden-directed Election Interference assault on me instantly to relaxation,” he mentioned on social media.
“He ought to do it for america.”
Trump has to this point pleaded not responsible in 4 felony instances that might probably land him in jail earlier than the November presidential election, together with two that accuse him of making an attempt to overturn the outcomes of the 2020 election.
He’s additionally the defendant in at the least two different civil instances. However Trump has already misplaced one defamation case in opposition to Carroll.
In Could final 12 months, a jury ordered Trump to pay the previous Elle columnist $5m for having sexually abused her through the encounter and defaming her.
Trump has mentioned that he didn’t know Carroll and that she made up the encounter to promote her memoir. He’s additionally interesting the $5m award.
Kaplan, who additionally presided over that case, mentioned he has barred Trump from arguing that he didn’t defame or sexually assault Carroll or that she made up her account.
In latest weeks, Trump has ramped up his assaults on Carroll, together with saying she didn’t know the last decade of their encounter.
He additionally referred to as Kaplan “horrible, biased, irrationally offended”.
Trump might face an uphill combat to flee vital further damages due to Kaplan’s pre-trial rulings.
These embrace banning Trump from suggesting he didn’t rape Carroll, as New York’s penal regulation defines the time period, as a result of the primary jury didn’t discover that Trump dedicated rape.
Kaplan has dominated that as a result of Trump used his fingers within the assault, Carroll’s rape declare was “considerably true.”
Trump additionally can’t focus on DNA proof or Carroll’s sexual actions, or counsel that Democrats are bankrolling her case. Carroll is a Democrat.
And as occurred on the first trial, jurors will be capable to see the 2005 video from Entry Hollywood video the place Trump graphically described the power of well-known individuals like himself to have sexual relations with stunning girls.
Trump didn’t retract his feedback when requested about them in a 2022 deposition. Kaplan has mentioned the video might supply “helpful perception into Mr. Trump’s way of thinking” towards Carroll.
Trump lawyer Alina Habba on Sunday assured Kaplan that he was “nicely conscious” of the court docket’s rulings “and the strict confines positioned on his testimony”.
