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canyonwalkerThis just in! A jury in Manhattan this afternoon found former president and 2024 candidate Donald Trump liable for sexual assault and defamation of E. Jean Carroll. Carroll alleged that Trump raped her in a department store fitting room in the 1990s. The jury awarded Carroll damages of $5 million.
I am surprised by this verdict. Just last night I remarked to my spouse, after the case had gone to the jury for deliberation earlier in the day, that I thought there wasn't enough evidence to prove the allegations. Carroll testified that it happened, and a few friends testified that she told them about it years ago, but there was no hard evidence of an assault.
Now, this is a civil law trial, not a criminal case. The standard of proof is lower. Plaintiffs only need to show that allegations are supported by “a preponderance of the evidence”. Perhaps I'm mis-intepreting what preponderance means, legally, but I'm not sure it wasn't met.
Trump didn't help himself in this trial. In a videotaped deposition he defended his "Grab 'em by the pussy" comments in the infamous Access Hollywood tape from several years ago. At the time he minimized his statements as "locker room talk". He repeated that characterization on social media within the past week. But here's the thing: the phrase "locker room talk" describes idle boasting that is exaggerated or untrue. When challenged about that quote in the deposition, Trump defended it. "Historically that's true," he said, reaffirming that in his worldview powerful men have the prerogative of being able to have their way with any woman— "unfortunately or fortunately."
Perhaps more crucially, Trump undermined one of his own lines of defense in the deposition. "She's not even my type," Trump has said numerous times, broadly implying that she's too fat, or old, or unattractive for him to even consider touching sexually. Yet when the plaintiff's attorney showed Trump a picture of him standing next to Carroll at a public even years ago, Trump misidentified Carroll as Marla Maples, one of his ex-wives. "That's my wife," Trump said matter-of-factly in the videotape. One can easily conclude that if Carroll looked enough like Trump's ex-wife for him to confuse them in a press photograph, she is the type he found physically attractive.
I am surprised by this verdict. Just last night I remarked to my spouse, after the case had gone to the jury for deliberation earlier in the day, that I thought there wasn't enough evidence to prove the allegations. Carroll testified that it happened, and a few friends testified that she told them about it years ago, but there was no hard evidence of an assault.
Now, this is a civil law trial, not a criminal case. The standard of proof is lower. Plaintiffs only need to show that allegations are supported by “a preponderance of the evidence”. Perhaps I'm mis-intepreting what preponderance means, legally, but I'm not sure it wasn't met.
Trump didn't help himself in this trial. In a videotaped deposition he defended his "Grab 'em by the pussy" comments in the infamous Access Hollywood tape from several years ago. At the time he minimized his statements as "locker room talk". He repeated that characterization on social media within the past week. But here's the thing: the phrase "locker room talk" describes idle boasting that is exaggerated or untrue. When challenged about that quote in the deposition, Trump defended it. "Historically that's true," he said, reaffirming that in his worldview powerful men have the prerogative of being able to have their way with any woman— "unfortunately or fortunately."
Perhaps more crucially, Trump undermined one of his own lines of defense in the deposition. "She's not even my type," Trump has said numerous times, broadly implying that she's too fat, or old, or unattractive for him to even consider touching sexually. Yet when the plaintiff's attorney showed Trump a picture of him standing next to Carroll at a public even years ago, Trump misidentified Carroll as Marla Maples, one of his ex-wives. "That's my wife," Trump said matter-of-factly in the videotape. One can easily conclude that if Carroll looked enough like Trump's ex-wife for him to confuse them in a press photograph, she is the type he found physically attractive.
