NEW YORK — A lawyer for E. Jean Carroll, the author accusing Donald Trump of raping and later defaming her, instructed jurors on Monday that the previous US president’s personal phrases about his therapy of ladies lent credibility to Carroll’s case.
During closing arguments in a civil trial in Manhattan federal court docket the lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, reminded jurors of a 2005 “Access Hollywood” tape they noticed throughout trial by which Trump bragged on a sizzling microphone about grabbing ladies “by the pussy” and that “when you’re a star, they let you do it.”
“He grabbed her, using his words, ‘by the pussy,'” Kaplan stated. “He thinks stars like him can get away with it. He thinks he can get away with it here.”
Trump waived his proper to testify at trial and opted to not current a protection, playing that jurors will discover that Carroll had did not make a persuasive case. His legal professionals had been resulting from give their closing arguments afterward Monday.
Trump has but to attend the trial, which started on April 25, however instructed reporters in Ireland final Thursday that he “probably” would attend. US District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who is just not associated to Carroll’s lawyer, stated he anticipated jurors to start deliberating on Tuesday.
Carroll, 79, filed her lawsuit final 12 months towards Trump, 76, claiming he raped her in a dressing room on the Bergdorf Goodman division retailer in Manhattan in 1995 or 1996, after which defamed her by denying it occurred. The former Elle journal recommendation columnist is looking for unspecified financial damages.
Trump, who served as president from 2017 to 2021 and is the present front-runner for the Republican US presidential nomination in 2024, has stated Carroll made up the allegation to drive gross sales of her 2019 memoir.
Her defamation declare issues an October 2022 put up on Trump’s Truth Social platform by which he known as her allegations a “complete con job” and “a Hoax and a lie.” He has additionally stated Carroll was “not my type.”
Carroll stated throughout three days of testimony and cross-examination that throughout the alleged assault, Trump slammed her towards the wall, put his fingers into her vagina after which inserted his penis.
At trial her legal professionals confirmed jurors a videotape of Trump giving a deposition by which he’s proven an image of him and Carroll collectively at an occasion. In the video Trump is seen mistaking Carroll for his former spouse, Marla Maples.
“The truth is that E. Jean Carroll, a former cheerleader and Miss Indiana, was exactly Donald Trump’s type,” Kaplan, Carroll’s lawyer, stated throughout closing arguments. “Donald Trump here is a witness against himself.”
Two of Carroll’s longtime pals testified that she instructed them concerning the assault shortly after it occurred and stated they believed her. Jurors additionally heard from two different ladies who stated Trump sexually assaulted them in separate alleged incidents many years in the past. Trump denies these claims as nicely.
In a video deposition performed for the jury final Wednesday, Trump denied raping Carroll.
“It’s the most ridiculous, disgusting story,” Trump stated within the video, hunched over a convention desk as Carroll’s legal professionals introduced paperwork to him. “It’s just made up.” — Reuters
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
