Supreme Court Leaves Carroll Verdict Against Trump Intact

The U.S. Supreme Court has again refused to hear Donald Trump’s appeal of a $5-million US civil verdict awarded to E. Jean Carroll. The unsigned order, issued without explanation, rejected Trump’s request to reconsider the court’s June decision declining to review the 2023 jury verdict. The Supreme Court rarely grants such requests. The jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll in a Manhattan department-store dressing room in the 1990s and for defaming her in 2022, when he described her allegations as a “hoax” and a “con job.” Jurors did not find that Trump raped Carroll, as she had alleged. Trump’s lawyers have argued that the trial was unfair and that the verdict should be overturned. After the Supreme Court denied Trump’s initial appeal in June, Carroll collected nearly $5.63 million US, representing the original award plus interest. A federal judge had previously cleared her to collect the money. The court is still considering Trump’s appeal of a separate $83.3-million US defamation verdict reached in 2024. That case concerns statements Trump made in 2019, while he was president, after Carroll publicly accused him of rape in an excerpt from her memoir. Trump denied the allegations and said Carroll was lying. Trump’s lawyers argue in the second appeal that presidential immunity protects him from Carroll’s claims and that lower courts incorrectly concluded he had forfeited that defence. They contend that a landmark 2024 Supreme Court ruling granting former presidents broad immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts could also affect the earlier $5-million case. However, the Carroll lawsuits are civil rather than criminal proceedings. The Supreme Court’s refusal to reconsider the $5-million verdict leaves the separate $83.3-million appeal as the remaining major legal issue before the justices.

The US Supreme Court has rejected President Donald Trump’s request to overturn a civil judgment involving writer E. Jean Carroll, marking the second time the court has declined to hear his challenge. Trump and the US Justice Department asked the court in July to reverse an $83 million defamation verdict awarded to Carroll. The Supreme Court gave no explanation for its decision. Carroll testified before New York juries that Trump sexually assaulted her in a department-store dressing room in 1996. She publicly disclosed the allegation in a 2019 memoir. Trump denied the assault and later accused Carroll of fabricating the story to promote her book. He also said he had never met her and that she was “not my type.” Carroll sued Trump for defamation over those statements. In a separate civil proceeding, a jury found Trump liable for sexually assaulting and defaming Carroll and awarded her $5.6 million, which Trump paid in the month before this report. The later $83 million award addressed additional defamatory statements. The ruling represents another legal setback for Trump as he continues to contest the damages awarded to Carroll. The Supreme Court’s refusal to intervene leaves the lower-court judgments in place, although the article does not describe any further legal options or proceedings. The report focuses on the court’s procedural decision and the allegations, testimony and verdicts underlying the dispute.

The US Supreme Court has again declined to hear Donald Trump’s request to overturn a $5 million civil verdict awarded to writer E. Jean Carroll. The unsigned order provided no explanation and leaves intact a 2023 jury finding that Trump sexually abused Carroll and defamed her. The court had previously rejected Trump’s appeal in June, and the justices rarely agree to reconsider cases they have already declined to hear. The lawsuit arose from Carroll’s allegation that Trump assaulted her in a dressing room at Manhattan’s Bergdorf Goodman department store in the mid-1990s. Carroll publicly accused Trump in 2019, alleging that he raped her. Trump has consistently denied the allegation and has accused Carroll of lying. The specific case resulting in the $5 million judgment focused on statements Trump made in 2022, when he called Carroll’s accusation a “hoax” and a “con job.” The jury found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation, but not for rape. Trump’s attorneys argued that the trial was unfair and asked the Supreme Court to reconsider its earlier refusal to take the case. Trump paid approximately $5.63 million after the June decision, including the judgment and interest. Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, said the latest Supreme Court action means the jury’s unanimous verdict is final and cannot be challenged in court. A separate Carroll lawsuit remains pending before the Supreme Court. It concerns an $83.3 million verdict over statements Trump made about Carroll in 2019 while he was president. Trump and the Justice Department argue that presidential immunity protects him from that defamation claim. The court has not decided whether to hear that appeal. The article notes that the two civil cases are distinct from the Supreme Court’s 2024 ruling granting former presidents absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions within their core constitutional powers.