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The jury found that Ms. Carroll had not proved, by a preponderance of the evidence, that Mr. Trump had raped her, as she had long claimed. Jury members had the option of finding Mr. Trump liable for sexual abuse or for forcible touching, which are less serious charges than rape under state law. Ms. Carroll sued the former president last year. Its findings are civil, not criminal, meaning Mr. Trump has not been convicted of any crime and faces no prison time. Sexual abuse is defined in New York as subjecting a person to sexual contact without consent.

Instead, Ms. Carroll sued Mr. Trump for battery and defamation. That means the jury was asked to determine Mr. Trump’s “liability” — whether Mr. Trump is legally responsible for harming Ms. Carroll in ways that meet New York State’s definition of battery. The jury must also decide how much to award Ms. Carroll in damages if they side with her. Ms. Carroll has not requested a specific amount of damages she is seeking for her battery claim. Last week, an expert witness called by Ms. Carroll testified it would cost as much as $2.7 million to run a campaign that would repair her reputation.

As the civil trial over the writer E. Jean Carroll’s allegation that former President Donald J. Trump raped her neared its end, one of her lawyers focused on the man who was missing from the courtroom. Mr. Trump did not testify on his own behalf or even show up. “He just decided not to be here,” the lawyer, Michael J. Ferrara, told the jury on Monday. The rape allegation, he said, was a complete invention. Mr. Tacopina took an uncompromising line during the two-week civil trial in Manhattan federal court, the first time that Mr. Trump, 76, who has faced years of allegations that he engaged in sexual misconduct with women, has had to answer such a claim at trial.

Ms. Carroll said Mr. Trump asked her to help select a gift for a female friend. Mr. Trump directed her to “go put this on,” she said. Ms. Carroll said Mr. Trump used his weight to pin her and pulled down her tights. Ms. Carroll said she used her knee to push Mr. Trump away and fled. Mr. Tacopina also questioned Ms. Carroll about whether she had screamed for help.

Mr. Trump’s statement came after his lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, had said in court that Mr. Trump would not be coming to testify and that no witnesses would take the stand in Mr. Trump’s defense. It was unclear from Mr. Trump’s statement in Ireland whether he wants to testify or merely to observe the proceedings from the defense table. Judge Kaplan implied that Mr. Trump could face a contempt sanction. After Mr. Trump’s son, Eric, later in the day posted his own statement, on Twitter, criticizing the motivation of a prominent backer of Ms. Carroll’s case, Judge Kaplan implied from the bench that more serious remedies might be called for. Although he did not elaborate, he seemed to suggest Mr. Trump might be violating a federal law that prohibits efforts to corruptly influence or intimidate a juror in a trial.

It was Ms. Martin who advised her not to go to the police, Ms. Carroll testified. Ms. Kaplan said they also expected that Ms. Carroll’s sister would testify. Ms. Kaplan said she planned to finish presenting Ms. Carroll’s case perhaps by midday on Thursday. “She said, ‘Lisa, you are not going to believe what happened to me,’” Ms. Birnbach testified. She said Ms. Carroll sounded “breathless, hyperventilating, emotional.”

☆ In Trump Trial, a Lawyer Pushes, and E. Jean Carroll Pushes Right Back
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Lola Fadulu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Mr. Tacopina, with an expression of incredulity, tested Ms. Carroll on minute details of events of more than 30 years ago. He repeatedly asked her why she decided to come forward with the accusation when she did — an effort on his part to suggest to the jury ulterior motives: politics, money and fame. Ms. Carroll, who was on the witness stand for three days, described in painstaking detail for the jury of six men and three women how she had run into Mr. Trump as she was leaving the department store. Mr. Tacopina used his cross-examination not only to ask Ms. Carroll about what she said happened, but to question her about what she did afterward. He repeatedly asked her why she hadn’t screamed and why she had called a friend instead of going to the police.

The first person called was Lisa Birnbach, a journalist, author and close friend of Ms. Carroll. Ms. Carroll has said she called Ms. Birnbach shortly after the alleged rape. Ms. Carroll on Monday ended two days of cross-examination by Joseph Tacopina, Mr. Trump’s lawyer, about her allegation. Mr. Trump, who has avoided coming to court, has denied all wrongdoing. As she was leaving through a revolving door, Mr. Trump entered and recognized her, she has testified, and persuaded her to help him shop for a gift for a female friend.

☆ What to Know About E. Jean Carroll’s Lawsuit Against Donald Trump
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Benjamin Weiser | Lola Fadulu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The writer E. Jean Carroll’s case accusing Donald J. Trump of raping her in a department-store dressing room continues Monday in Federal District Court in Manhattan. The case against the former president, who has denied all wrongdoing, began last Tuesday and was expected to last one to two weeks. Mr. Trump’s lawyers on Monday filed a motion for a mistrial, arguing that the court had made “pervasive unfair and prejudicial rulings.”Here’s what to know about the trial so far:The AccusationMs. Carroll, a former advice columnist for Elle magazine, says she visited the luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman, where she was a regular shopper, one evening in the mid-1990s. As she was leaving through a revolving side door on 58th Street, Mr. Trump entered through the same door, and recognized her, the suit says, and persuaded her to help him shop for a gift for a female friend. She has accused the former president of going on to attack her in a dressing room in the lingerie department.

Since Mr. Trump was indicted, his poll numbers have risen. The poll he mentioned Thursday predicted that he would receive 62 percent of the vote in the Republican primary. But the investigations could cause Mr. Trump real harm. No matter the outcome, any direct connection between Mr. Trump’s legal fate in the rape case and his political fortunes is tenuous. In the courtroom, which Mr. Trump has avoided, Ms. Carroll’s team argued that his words were not to be dismissed, even years after they became public.

In a Manhattan courtroom on Thursday, a lawyer for former President Donald J. Trump asked E. Jean Carroll, the writer who has accused Mr. Trump of raping her nearly three decades ago, whether she had screamed for help. “I’m not a screamer,” Ms. Carroll responded, adding that she was in a panic during the encounter in a dressing room. “You can’t beat up on me for not screaming.”Mr. Trump’s lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, said he was not doing that, but Ms. Carroll, her voice rising, said from the witness stand that women often keep silent about an attack because they fear being asked what they could have done to stop it. “They are always asked, ‘Why didn’t you scream?’” Ms. Carroll said. “I’m telling you, he raped me, whether I screamed or not,” she declared.

Ms. Carroll, 79, a former magazine columnist, said nothing publicly about the encounter for decades before publishing a memoir in 2019 that accused Mr. Trump of attacking her. Mr. Trump has not appeared in court since the trial began on Tuesday and his lawyer has not said whether or not he will. Mr. Trump’s lawyers have suggested she invented the story to boost sales of her book. They have also contended that she and her friends schemed to hurt Mr. Trump politically. One of Mr. Trump’s lawyers, Joseph Tacopina, hinted in his opening statement what other lines of questioning Ms. Carroll might expect on cross-examination.

Just before she began testifying in federal court, the former president infuriated the judge overseeing the case by railing against the proceeding on social media. Mr. Trump, who has so far avoided the trial, was not there as Ms. Carroll related a tale she said she had waited decades to tell. “Being able to get my day in court, finally, is everything to me,” she said, her shaky voice rising. I thought it was my fault,” she said, describing how she had initially been laughing and joking with Mr. Trump after she ran into him at Bergdorf Goodman in Manhattan. It was funny, and then to have it turn into the …” Her voice then trailed off.

On Wednesday, the judge said Mr. Trump’s out-of-court statements seemed “entirely inappropriate” and suggested Mr. Trump might be trying to influence members of the jury. “I will speak to my client and ask him to refrain from any further posts regarding this case,” Mr. Tacopina said. Mr. Tacopina said the day before that he did not yet know whether Mr. Trump would take the witness stand. Judge Kaplan said that he wanted an answer this week, adding that not knowing was an “imposition” on security and court staff. Ms. Carroll wrote that he pushed her against a dressing room wall, pulled down her tights, opened his pants and then forced himself upon her.

In the suit, Ms. Carroll, 79, says that one evening in the mid-1990s, she visited the luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman, where she was a regular shopper. There, the suit says, she ran into Mr. Trump. He questioned several details of what Ms. Carroll has claimed: that no one else was present nearby, that the dressing room doors were unlocked and that Ms. Carroll fled without anyone seeing her. Ms. Carroll’s lawyers will ask the jury to find Mr. Trump liable for battery, and if he is found responsible, to award monetary damages. Here are some facts about the case:The New York State law that allowed Ms. Carroll to bring her suit isn’t even a year old.

☆ Who Is E. Jean Carroll, the Writer Accusing Donald Trump of Rape?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Lola Fadulu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

E. Jean Carroll is a writer and a former columnist for Elle magazine who doled out sex, career and other advice for more than 20 years. The author, 79, grew up as Betty Jean Carroll in Indiana. She attended Indiana University, where she was crowned Miss Indiana University in 1963. Ms. Carroll had long thought of herself as a writer; she once told USA Today that she sent pitches to magazines when she was 12 years old. Ms. Carroll also wrote for Rolling Stone and Playboy, where she was the first female contributing editor.

Mr. Trump has pleaded not guilty to New York fraud charges stemming from hush money paid to a porn star, and faces a civil fraud lawsuit brought by the state’s attorney general. In Ms. Carroll’s case, her lawyers will ask the jury to find Mr. Trump liable for battery and defamation, and if he is found responsible, to award monetary damages. Ms. Carroll, 79, a former magazine columnist, said nothing publicly about the encounter for decades before publishing a memoir in 2019 that accused Mr. Trump of attacking her. In court on Tuesday, Ms. Crowley took the jury through a meticulous account of how Ms. Carroll’s chance encounter with Mr. Trump at Bergdorf Goodman in Manhattan began with humor and friendly teasing. She agreed, thinking it would make for a funny story, Ms. Crowley said.

☆ N.Y.P.D. Shoots Man in Mental Distress After Responding to 911 Call
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Lola Fadulu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The encounter was captured by officers’ body-worn cameras, and Chief Chell said police officials had watched the footage but did not make it publicly available for review. The man, whom the police did not identify beyond saying he was 39, was taken to a hospital for treatment. Chief Chell said police officials believed the man was from the facility, and that he had “four prior arrests and a documented mental history in our department.”The shooting came less than a month after officers shot another man who was in mental distress and holding a knife in the Bronx. In that instance, officers shot the man, Raul de la Cruz, within 28 seconds of responding to a 311 call from Mr. de la Cruz’s father, who had requested medical care for his son after arguing with him. The younger Mr. de la Cruz remained unconscious for days after the shooting.

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