Conclusions drawn from the jury’s $83.3 million decision against Donald Trump

Donald Trump suffered the biggest legal blow of his career on Friday when a jury decided that he should pay $83.3 million in damages. The former president is currently embroiled in numerous criminal and civil cases as he runs for the presidency.

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This was the second time in a year that a jury had found in favour of E. Jean Carroll, awarding her millions of dollars in damages from Trump for insulting her and downplaying her claims of rape.

However, this finding was on a whole different ballpark – it awarded a total of eight times more money than Carroll had originally requested in her complaint, including $65 million in punitive damages alone.

Though it is certain to be appealed, Friday’s verdict comes ahead of the US Supreme Court hearing on whether the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination can appear on the ballot, the four criminal indictments that are awaiting trial, and the judge’s anticipated decision later this month in Trump’s civil fraud trial that could jeopardise the former president’s business empire.

The following are the main conclusions from the verdict and defamation trial:

One more jury finds against Trump.

Trump has been quite critical of the judges presiding over his cases, the plaintiffs who have sued him, and the prosecutors who have looked into and prosecuted him over the past year.

The jury of nine, meanwhile, remained unblinked. Carroll received $18.3 million in compensatory damages from the ruling. But it was the punitive damages that awarded Carroll an astounding $65 million.

Carroll’s attorneys argued to the jury throughout the trial that Trump ought to pay a hefty price in damages in order to truly make him stop spreading false information.

Roberta Kaplan, an attorney in Carroll, stated, “The law says you can consider Donald Trump’s wealth as well as his malicious and spiteful continual conduct.” “For Trump, billions of dollars are merely a drop in the ocean.”

Not only does the verdict carry financial significance, but it also sends a strong message to the general public that a jury of ordinary folks did not trust Trump, Democratic-appointed judges or prosecutors, or the administration of President Joe Biden, who is expected to be Trump’s opponent in 2024.

Carroll, will you ever see the money?

Carroll will need to wait a while to receive the money that the jury decided to grant him.

Carroll was given a total of $5 million in damages by the jury in the first defamation trial last year, including roughly $3 million for defamation. The jury concluded that Trump had sexually assaulted Carroll and had defamed her in 2022 when he refuted the claims.

Trump announced he will appeal this conviction as well shortly after Friday’s, and that verdict is currently being contested.

Ridiculously outrageous! In a post on Truth Social, Trump stated, “I will be appealing because I completely disagree with both verdicts.” 

In an effort to fulfil the judgement from the defamation lawsuit, Trump placed $5.5 million into a court-controlled account last year. Carroll, however, would not be able to access the money until all appeals, including one that might go all the way to the US Supreme Court, are resolved.

Trump, who is already appealing a New York state judge’s decision that found him liable for fraud, is no stranger to endless appeals and delays. He is preparing to appeal the judge’s decision in the larger New York attorney general’s civil fraud case, which may begin as early as next week.

Trump leaves the courtroom.

Conclusions drawn from the jury’s $83.3 million decision against Donald Trump

Trump decided he would not sit and listen to Carroll’s attorney just minutes into her closing argument on Friday.

In the middle of the final argument, the former president stood up and departed the courtroom. Advisor Boris Epshteyn followed him out, and the judge noted for the record that Trump had left the courtroom.

It wasn’t until after the interval that Trump entered the courtroom, and his lawyer Alina Habba had her turn presenting her argument to the jury.

During the defamation trial, the former president was reprimanded multiple times for screaming loudly from the defence table and for exceeding the very limited three-minute time limit for his testimony on Thursday. As a result, the walkout was his final act of defiance.

Trump’s actions at the civil fraud trial in New York state court were conducted against a very different background due to the limitations imposed by Judge Lewis Kaplan (who is unrelated to the lawyer). There, throughout his testimony, Trump spent hours criticising the judge, the state attorney general, and the proceedings. Following his exit from the courtroom, Trump had the opportunity to address a waiting camera.

Since cameras were not allowed in federal court during the defamation trial, Trump was left to rely only on social media to further his cause after the trial.

Trump also left before the decision was announced and departed shortly after it was read. He did not stay to witness the verdict.

Carroll demonstrated to the jury that Trump’s disparaging remarks caused her damage.

The jury’s decision to find against Trump was made after less than three hours of deliberation.

Carroll’s legal team contended that in order to compel Trump to halt his assaults, they ought to impose punitive damages that are “unusually high.”

Carroll’s lawyer Shawn Crowley described Trump’s remarks on Carroll as “dripping with malice, with hate” even to this day.

Whatever Trump said, Carroll would have still received hate mail when she penned her tale, according to Trump’s lawyer.

Habba contended, “We have witnessed six days of a plaintiff trying to pin remarks made by Twitter trolls on a former US president without taking any responsibility for the media, the press frenzy, and the public profile that she wanted and still enjoys.”

Habba stated that the harmful teachings have to be “universally condemned.” “However, President Trump shouldn’t be held accountable for their threats. He is not in favour of them. He didn’t give them instructions. “All he did was speak the truth,” stated Trump’s representative.

The jurors couldn’t agree.

The judge reprimands Trump’s lawyer several times.

During Friday’s closing statements, Judge Kaplan showed little tolerance for either Habba or Trump, reprimanding the former president’s attorney many times and even threatening to put her “in the lock up.”

If any of Trump’s criminal charges go to trial this year, the judge’s irritation with his counsel will probably not change from what it has shown in his two October civil proceedings when his attorneys have attempted to push the boundaries.

On Friday, Kaplan interrupted Habba as she attempted to create a record to contest his decision that the defence was not permitted to use a slide in their closing argument.

He told Trump’s lawyer, “You are going to have to spend some time in the lock up, so sit down.”

Habba swiftly got into trouble with Kaplan once more as she started her closing argument, attempting to bring up Trump’s denials of Carroll’s accusations of sexual assault, despite the fact that the issue is not relevant to this trial because Carroll was deemed to have provided proof of the crime by a previous jury.

Trump has “consistently stated his position, as is his American right,” Habba told the jury.

Kaplan interrupted her to remind the jury that it has already been determined by a previous jury that Trump had sexually abused Carroll.

“Yes, it’s been established by a jury,” Habba answered.

Kaplan shot back, “It is established, and you will not argue with me.”