Jury to hear closing statements in Trump civil case

NEW YORK — Jurors began hearing lawyers’ closing state arguments Monday in a civil lawsuit brought by author E. Jean Carroll against former president Donald Trump, who she says raped her in the mid-1990s.

The trial in U.S. District Court in Manhattan has put on display Carroll’s account of lasting trauma and delved into an alleged assault that she says is still fresh in her mind many years later. Though presenting herself outwardly as resilient in public and among friends and family, Carroll told jurors that she has come to realize she has permanent scars.

Carroll, 79, testified that she has not had a romantic relationship since the alleged sexual assault and often suffers from flashbacks. As Trump’s political prominence rose during the 2016 presidential election, Carroll said she had to face her history again.

Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan told jurors on Monday morning they could rely on her client’s detailed testimony.

“You saw for yourself E. Jean Carroll wasn’t hiding anything,” Kaplan said. “Her testimony was credible, it was consistent and it was powerful.”

Trump, 76, who has denied the allegations, has not appeared at the trial, which began April 25. He declined to testify in Carroll’s lawsuit; he had no obligation to show up or take the stand.

While he did not take the stand, Trump’s presence was felt in the courtroom: The plaintiff’s side played some of the videotaped deposition he sat for in October, and the video was publicly released Friday afternoon.

His absence and out of court statements have been a recurring issue during the trial, including when he posted on social media again dismissing her claims as fraudulent.

Carroll’s side had expressed concerns that Trump was trying to influence the jury from afar. On Thursday, even after his attorney had said Trump would not testify, he made comments to reporters in Ireland suggesting he might make a surprise appearance at the trial after all.

His attorneys did not call witnesses to testify, instead opting to put on a case through cross-examination of Carroll and others who did testify. Trump and his lawyers have repeatedly said the story was made up by Carroll and a pair of her friends.

“There are no witnesses to call to prove a negative,” Trump lawyer Joe Tacopina said in his opening statement.

Because the case is civil, not criminal, Trump does not face any time behind bars if the nine-member jury sides with Carroll, who has sought unspecified damages. Civil cases typically involve disputes that get judged based on preponderance of evidence, which is a lower standard than criminal cases, which require proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

Carroll went public with her account against Trump in 2019, during his presidency, with the release of a memoir that was advanced with an excerpt in New York magazine. Trump vehemently denied her allegation, insinuating the claim was false because she was too unattractive for him to be interested in her.

He also called her a liar and said she was using the account to try to sell books.

Those comments were the basis for her first lawsuit that was filed in 2019. That case remains locked up in appellate court litigation because the Justice Department has tried to intervene on Trump’s behalf, arguing that he was acting in his official capacity as president when he responded to press questions about the allegation. That issue is still pending.

In November, Carroll filed a second lawsuit, this time alleging battery from the assault and additional claims of defamation based on comments Trump made on Truth Social in October which echoed the earlier denials. The battery claim had been time-barred before by the statute of limitations but New York’s Adult Survivors Act opened a window for accusers to sue over older claims.

Carroll is among more than a dozen women who have accused Trump of sexual misconduct over the years. He has denied the allegations.