This is a breaking story, so the 24-hour rule applies: All reports within the first 24 hours are suspect. But we will strive to give you the most accurate information.
Update: New commentary and tweets added.
Our headline is intentionally vague because multiple reports are saying it is a mixed verdict. For instance, this is what the New York Times says:
Breaking News: A jury found Donald Trump liable for the sexual abuse and defamation of E. Jean Carroll in a civil trial, but rejected her rape accusation. https://t.co/Q1VCnhso4s
— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 9, 2023
The announcement on Fox lines up with this claim:
Fox News announces Trump's guilty verdict for sexually abusing and forcibly touching E Jean Carroll pic.twitter.com/G6ccyWlZnF
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 9, 2023
We haven’t followed the trial closely, so we aren’t sure if a jury could rationally believe that Ms. Carroll was sexually abused and touched without her consent by Mr. Trump, but not raped, but that is evidently the verdict.
Trump has already reacted to the news over on TruthSocial:
"THIS VERDICT IS A DISGRACE"
Pres. Trump on the verdict of the E. Jean Carroll civil trial 👆@OANN pic.twitter.com/fHlMnwdDRB
— Daniel Baldwin (@baldwin_daniel_) May 9, 2023
(The screenshot is true and accurate.)
We are not attempting to gather every comment on the story at this time, but Joel Pollack had this to say:
It was clear that Trump would lose this civil case the moment the judge allowed character evidence on unrelated claims into the trial. The jury understood there was no evidence of rape, but they decided to punish him for his alleged behavior in cases not before the court. Unjust. https://t.co/9ud63XGOZf
— Joel Pollak (@joelpollak) May 9, 2023
This decision seems especially dubious under the Federal Rules of Evidence:
Looks like the judge allowed character evidence into the case against Trump. How did that happen? Bad law, bad judge, bad lawyers? If they're playing the "Access Hollywood" tape, things are *not* going well for Trump. https://t.co/136JZYWnra via @MailOnline
— Joel Pollak (@joelpollak) May 4, 2023
And Clay Travis had this:
So a New York jury found Trump didn’t rape this chick, but gave her $5 million for defamation because Trump said he didn’t rape her & she was lying?! What a broken brain verdict. Honestly, still a pretty big win for Trump. A NYC jury found he didn’t rape her. That would be the…
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) May 9, 2023
Dude… ‘chick?’ Really? Not a good time to roll out that term. His second try was better:
Crazy verdict. And this wasn’t even not guilty, that’s a criminal court term. This jury found by a preponderance of the evidence that Trump didn’t rape her. That means they believed him over her. And he didn’t even show up for the trial to tell his side of the story. Pretty… https://t.co/kjPp0C6Bpw
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) May 9, 2023
Naturally, the fact Trump didn’t testify probably hurt him.
We will update this story as it develops.
Update: Since our initial post, we have found a few additional items of interest.
A few people are spreading this clip around this afternoon:
Just a reminder that Trump's accuser E. Jean Carroll once told Anderson Cooper that rape is "sexy" and a "fantasy."
…and it creeped him out so much that he threw to commercial.
But a biased New York court found in her favor today and convicted Trump. pic.twitter.com/kR80xiUfaP
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) May 9, 2023
Please note, however, that she is not saying she believes rape is sexy. Listen to it for yourself. Rather she said she thinks other people think it is, which is in our opinion a strange take. You can judge for yourself if she disagrees with those people she is talking about.
Next, we have this comment:
JUSTICE? U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan instructed the jury that all they have to do is conclude that Trump gave Carroll an “unwanted peck on the cheek” in order to find him guilty in civil rape case. The judge and jury are all Democrats.
https://t.co/f8n6wItS4v pic.twitter.com/znJnV7aG1W— @amuse (@amuse) May 9, 2023
However, it sounds like Trump was accused of the common law offense of ‘battery.’ In the common law, a battery can be the slightest non-consensual touch as long as it is intentional and it is offensive in nature.
Another item worth noting:
Judge in E. Jean Carroll case advises jurors not to identify themselves after finding Trump liable of sexual abuse and defamation and ordering him to pay $5 million in damages. pic.twitter.com/RMfxH0AmNU
— Jamie Gangel (@jamiegangel) May 9, 2023
This is almost certainly given to the jury after the verdict was rendered. Still, as a window into the judge’s thinking, that is amazing.
Next, this tweet gives us a chance to deal with another misconception:
Donald Trump has been found guilty of sexually assaulting E. Jean Carroll.
He is officially a convicted sexual abuser. pic.twitter.com/A6VfTbTn7b
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) May 9, 2023
No, this is not a conviction for anything. This is a civil verdict. The legal standard for most questions in civil suit is much lower than in criminal cases. In the ordinary criminal case, the state needs proof beyond a reasonable doubt—not beyond all doubt, but beyond any reasonable one. By comparison, in a civil suit, the standard is more likely than not (and in the case of a tie, the defendant wins). The reason for this difference is that a criminal case often puts a person’s life and liberty at stake. The most famous example to illustrate this is the O.J. Simpson cases. Simpson was accused of murdering Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. In the criminal case, he was found not guilty, but in the civil suit he was found liable for both of their deaths. This was logically consistent—a rational person can feel that Simpson probably killed them, but there was still a reasonable doubt.
Finally, it appears that Trump is going to attempt to appeal:
BREAKING: NY jury finds Trump ‘liable’ of battery, ‘not liable’ of rape, ordered to pay $5 MILLION in E Jean Carroll civil suit, Trump to appeal https://t.co/RFr37BfxJV
— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) May 9, 2023
As we said before, stay tuned.
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