Extract from ABC News
Donald Trump is ordered by a federal jury to pay writer E Jean Carroll a total of $US83.3 million ($126.6 million) for the "storm of hate" caused by the former president as he reacted to Ms Carroll's claims that he sexually attacked her.
Key points:
- E Jean Carroll's lawyers say Donald Trump's comments set off a flood of hate messages from strangers
- The judge threatened to send Mr Trump's lawyer to jail for continuing to talk when he told her she was finished
- Nine jurors will deliberate over whether Ms Carroll is entitled to more than the $US5 million she was awarded in a separate trial last year
He was ordered to pay $US18.3 million ($27.8 million) in compensatory damages alongside $US65 million ($98.8 million) in punitive damages, in part to keep Mr Trump from repeating his denials.
Ms Carroll, 80, sued Mr Trump in November 2019 over his denials five months earlier that he had raped her in the mid-1990s in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in Manhattan.
Mr Trump, 77, claimed that he had never heard of Ms Carroll, and that she made up her story to boost sales of her memoir.
His lawyers said Ms Carroll was hungry for fame and enjoyed the attention from supporters for speaking out against her nemesis.
Another jury last May ordered Mr Trump to pay Ms Carroll $US5 million ($7.6 million) over a similar October 2022 denial, finding that he had defamed and sexually abused Ms Carroll.
Mr Trump is appealing that decision.
In the current trial, Ms Carroll had sought at least $US10 million ($15.2 million) more, saying Mr Trump had "shattered" her reputation as a respected journalist who told the truth.
Mr Trump said the verdict was "absolutely ridiculous" on social media platform Truth Social, adding he would appeal.
Mr Trump walks out of courtroom
Just minutes after attorney Roberta Kaplan began her closing argument in Manhattan federal court, Mr Trump suddenly rose from his seat at the defence table and walked toward the exit, pausing to scan the packed courtroom as members of the Secret Service leaped up to follow him out.
The unexpected departure prompted Judge Lewis A Kaplan to speak up, briefly interrupting the closing argument to note: "The record will reflect that Mr Trump just rose and walked out of the courtroom." He did not return for the remainder of the first closing argument.
Later, Mr Trump returned to the courtroom to hear his lawyer, Alina Habba, argue that he should not be made to pay Ms Carroll for comments he made that Ms Carroll's lawyers say set off a flood of hate messages from strangers.
Early in her closing, Ms Habba showed the jury a video in which Mr Trump said a jury's verdict last year finding that he had sexually abused Ms Carroll was "a disgrace" and "a continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time".
"You know why he has not wavered?" Ms Habba asked the jury. "Because it's the truth."
That statement prompted an objection that the judge sustained with a warning that, "If you violate my instructions again, Ms Habba, you may have consequences."
The comment carried extra weight because just before arguments began, the judge — without jurors in the room — threatened to send Ms Habba to jail for continuing to talk when he told her she was finished.
Roberta Kaplan and the judge are unrelated.
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