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.