By Wonderwall.com Editors
4:00am PST, Jan 29, 2024
_
The jury is in — and it's going to cost Donald Trump.
On Jan. 26 — after less than three hours of deliberating — the federal jury in Donald Trump and E. Jean Carroll's defamation case decided that the former president must pay $83.3 million to the writer for disparaging her with public statements he made in 2019. That's more than eight times what she asked for in her initial lawsuit, CNN reported.
Broken down, the jury ordered Trump to pay $18.3 million in compensatory damages — $11 million to fund a reputational repair campaign plus $7.3 million for the emotional harm his statements caused her.
The punitive damages the jury decided on are far higher: $65 million for acting maliciously in making his statements.
The decision came after a different New York jury awarded Carroll $5 million total in damages, including almost $3 million for defamation, in May 2023 after finding that the former POTUS sexually assaulted the writer in a department store fitting room in 1996.
Trump went off after the verdict came in, writing on his Truth Social social media platform, "Absolutely ridiculous! I fully disagree with both verdicts, and will be appealing this whole Biden Directed Witch Hunt focused on me and the Republican Party. Our Legal System is out of control, and being used as a Political Weapon. They have taken away all First Amendment Rights. THIS IS NOT AMERICA!"
Keep reading for all the highlights of this roller coaster of a case in recent days, plus details on Trump's courtroom behavior, photos of the main players, Carroll after her victory and more…
MORE: Follow Wonderwall on MSN for more fun celebrity & entertainment photo galleries and content
_
A federal judge overseeing E. Jean Carroll's defamation case against Donald Trump threatened to remove the former president from the courtroom on Jan. 17 for commenting on the case repeatedly — and loudly — while the jury was close enough to have heard him. After he was chastised, Trump took aim at the judge on his social media platform, Truth Social.
The heated exchange between Trump and U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan took place during a break in the New York City trial, in which a jury's being asked to determine how much in damages Trump should pay Carroll, multiple outlets reported. Carroll is seeking $10 million or more for the former president's denials he sexually assaulted her in 1996.
"Mr. Trump has the right to be present here. That right can be forfeited, and it can be forfeited if he is disruptive and if he disregards court orders," Judge Kaplan told Trump and his lawyers, according to NBC News.
"Mr. Trump, I hope I don't have to consider excluding you from the trial. I understand you are very eager for me to do that."
The former president, who had reportedly reacted visibly as well as audibly to Carroll's testimony that morning, tossed his hands in the air, seemingly frustrated. "I would love it. I would love it," he said.
"I know you would because you just can't control yourself in this circumstance," the judge replied.
Keep reading to find out why the judge admonished Trump — again — on Jan. 25, and for details on what happened during closing argument day, plus more…
MORE: Follow Wonderwall on MSN for more fun celebrity & entertainment photo galleries and content
_
"You can't either," Donald Trump sniped at Judge Lewis Kaplan, according to Politico, after the judge told the former president he "just can't control" himself.
The tense back and forth on Jan. 17 came after writer E. Jean Carroll, seen here on her way into court, detailed the threats and public vitriol she was subjected to after New York Magazine published a book excerpt in 2019 featuring her allegations that the then-president had raped her in 1996. Since then, he has denied he ever met her, said she's lying and repeatedly mocked her on social media and in public.
"He said I made it up to sell a book, and that is a lie … [he] said my false accusations damaged the real victims of assault, and that is a lie," Carroll said, per NBC.
Trump, who was found liable for sexually abusing and defaming Carroll in 2023, destroyed her life and career with his false claims about her during his presidency, she continued, recalling how she was inundated with threats of violence.
"Well, to have the president of the United States, one of the most powerful persons on earth, calling me a liar for three days and saying I'm a liar 26 times — I counted them — it ended the world that I had been living in," she said, per Politico. "And I entered a new world."
As she spoke, Trump "shook his head," "exhaled loudly," "whispered to his lawyer" and "muttered 'con job' and 'witch hunt,'" outlets including NBC and The New York Times reported.
MORE: See former first ladies then and now
_
The tension reached a boiling point on Jan. 17 after E. Jean Carroll's lawyer, Shawn Crowley, protested to Judge Lewis Kaplan, telling him Donald Trump's comments could be heard by the jury.
At first, Judge Kaplan said he'd "ask Mr. Trump to take special care to keep his voice down so the jury does not overhear it," according to NBC. When that didn't do the trick, he warned the former president that further disruptions and failures to obey court orders could result in his being booted out of the trial.
It wasn't the only tense interaction between the judge and Trump's legal team, either.
After the lunch break, Trump attorney Michael Madaio reportedly asked Judge Kaplan to recuse himself from the whole case, claiming he was exhibiting "general hostility towards the defense," presumably with his warning about Trump's behavior.
The request was denied.
It was "about the same time" Madaio asked the judge to recuse himself that Trump went after Judge Kaplan on his social media platform, NBC reported.
_
Calling Judge Lewis Kaplan "seething and hostile," among other things, Donald Trump also wrote on Truth Social on Jan. 17 that "he is abusive, rude, and obviously not impartial."
The former president later told reporters, "That's a nasty man. He's a nasty judge. He's a Trump-hating guy," according to NBC.
E. Jean Carroll's testimony, meanwhile, echoed what she told a civil jury last year about the damage Trump's remarks did to her career and sense of safety. That jury found her defamation claims to be true.
The former president didn't attend that trial, though, as CNN noted, making this "the first time in years" he and Carroll have been in the same room together.
Trump was present for jury selection on Jan. 16 but left for a New Hampshire campaign rally before opening statements, NBC reported.
_
Meanwhile, Donald Trump's lawyer, Alina Habba, pictured here heading to court on Jan. 17, repeatedly objected. She apparently did so without sufficient regard for courtroom protocol, because Judge Lewis Kaplan chastised her and at one point suggested she catch up on how to submit evidence.
Habba, for her part, argued in her opening statements, that "Ms. [E. Jean] Carroll's reputation was not harmed by President Trump's statements. In fact, it's the exact opposite. She has gained more fame, more notoriety than she could ever have dreamed of," per NBC.
Habba also claimed Carroll was asking for damages "because some people on social media said mean things about her."
Carroll's lawyer emphasized in opening remarks that Trump's damaging comments held more sway because he was in the White House when he made them.
"He used the world's biggest microphone to attack Ms. Carroll, to humiliate her and to destroy her reputation," Carroll's attorney said. "He sat in this courthouse this morning. And while he was sitting there, he posted more defamatory statements, more lies about Ms. Carroll and this case."
_
When the trial went into its third day of proceedings on Jan. 18, Donald Trump was no longer in the room, having opted instead to attend his mother-in-law's funeral in Florida with wife Melania Trump and their son, Barron Trump.
As the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, Trump has also been juggling campaign stops during the trial. He started the week in Iowa, where he swept the caucuses.
After court in New York City on Jan 16, he headed to New Hampshire, where he attended a campaign rally alongside fellow Republican candidates Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis.
Keep reading to find out why he was rebuked when he returned to court on Jan. 25…
_
E. Jean Carroll is seen leaving Manhattan federal court in New York City on Jan. 22, 2024, after her defamation suit against former President Donald Trump was postponed for the day after a juror and one of Trump's lawyers reported feeling ill.
Before this delay, Carroll was expected to conclude her case for damages on Jan. 22, after which Trump's defense case would have started. He's listed as one of only two defense witnesses and testified — briefly — on Jan. 25…
_
Donald Trump — see here leaving Trump Tower in New York City on his way to testify in his E. Jean Carroll defamation trial on Jan. 25 — spent just three minutes on the stand, essentially only confirming that testimony he gave in his deposition was accurate.
Before doing so, he and his attorney were again warned by Judge Lewis Kaplan that Trump was legally not allowed to testify against the facts established at his first defamation trial — the judge reminded the courtroom that a jury had already found that Trump sexually assaulted Carroll in a department store dressing room in the '90s and that it had been proven she "did not make up her claim."
Yet Trump tried to do it anyway, calling out the accusations as "totally false." He was cut off as soon as he went off course.
Before evidence was even given, the judge rebuked the former president for speaking loudly from his seat in the courtroom. DailyMail.com reported that Trump was heard saying, "I don't know who the woman is. I never met this woman," which led the judge to admonished him, saying, "I'm sorry, Mr. Trump, you're interrupting these proceedings by talking loudly while your attorney is talking and that is not permitted."
Keep reading to find out what Carroll's attorney said during closing arguments the next day…
_
It was pure chaos on Jan. 26 as Donald Trump "stormed out of court," DailyMail.com reported, after E. Jean Carroll's attorney said the former president "thinks the rules don't apply to him."
Trump's departure was so abrupt, Judge Lewis Kaplan announced, "The record will reflect that Mr. Trump just rose and walked out of the courtroom." Trump returned for closing arguments a short time later.
Carroll's attorney Roberta Kaplan told the jury that the author deserved at least $24 million in compensatory damages to help repair her reputation and mitigate the emotional harm Trump caused, CNN reported, plus an "unusually high" amount of punitive damages.
"The law says you can consider Donald Trump's wealth, as well as his malicious and spiteful continual conduct," Kaplan said, explaining, "It will take an unusually high punitive damages award to have any hope of stopping Donald Trump to have a chance of allowing Ms. Carroll's life to return to normal."
According to Kaplan, "While Donald Trump may not care about the law, he certainly does not care about the truth — he does care about money. As a result, your decision to award a large amount of punitive damages may be the only hope that Ms. Carroll has to ever be free from Donald Trump's relentless attacks ever again."
Later that day — after less than three hours of deliberations — the jury decided Trump should pay $83.3 million in total damages ($18.3 million in compensatory damages and $65 million in punitive damages) to Carroll, who's seen here leaving the courthouse after the verdict was delivered.
Keep reading for more photos from Trump's time in court…
_
Donald Trump revealed an injured hand as he left Trump Tower for Manhattan federal court for the second defamation trial against him, in New York City on Jan. 17, 2024.
Writer E. Jean Carroll is seeking more than $10 million in damages in the civil trial, alleging that Trump defamed her in 2019 when he was president and she had just come out with her allegation, saying she "is not my type."
This is separate to a civil case last year where another New York jury found Trump liable for sexually assaulting Carroll in a department store dressing room in 1996 and subsequently defaming her in 2022, when he called her a "complete con job."
_
E. Jean Carroll carried a yellow umbrella as she arrived at court in New York City on Jan. 16, 2024.
_
Donald Trump held a press conference after leaving court in New York City on Jan. 17, 2024.
_
Donald Trump pumped a fist as he left Trump Tower on his way to court in New York City on Jan. 17, 2024.
_
E. Jean Carroll and her attorney, Roberta Kaplan, left Manhattan Federal Court in New York City on Jan. 18, 2024, after she concluded her testimony in her civil defamation trial against former President Donald Trump, who did not attend on this day in order to attend the funeral of his mother-in-law in Florida.
The trial will decide how much money in damages the former president will have to pay Carroll for his 2019 defamatory statements about her sexual assault allegations.
_
Donald Trump held a press conference at 40 Wall Street in New York City on Jan. 17, 2024, after leaving the second day of his defamation trial involving E. Jean Carroll. The trial is to determine how much money in damages the former president must pay her as a result of public comments he made both while he was in office and after the jury's verdict in May when he was found liable for sexually abusing Carroll in the mid-1990s and for defaming her after he left the White House. She was awarded $5 million in damages in May from the previous lawsuit.
_
Alina Habba, an attorney for Donald Trump, left Manhattan Federal Court in New York City on Jan. 18, 2024, following another day of the former president's defamation trial involving E. Jean Carroll.
_
Writer E. Jean Carroll departed from her defamation trial against former President Donald Trump at New York Federal Court in Manhattan on Jan. 16, 2024.
_
Former magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll left Manhattan federal court on Jan. 17, 2024, following another day of her second defamation trial against former President Donald Trump.
_
Donald Trump arrived at 40 Wall Street, also known as the Trump Building, to address the media after leaving the second day of his defamation trial involving former magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll at Manhattan federal court in New York City on Jan. 17, 2024.
_
Donald Trump flashed a peace sign at a press conference he held after leaving court in New York City on Jan. 17, 2024.
