New York: A federal judge has found former US President accountable for making defamatory statements against a columnist E. Jean Carroll, western media reported on Wednesday.
The decision is another success for Carroll as the court now only have to decide how much damage the former U.S. president should pay.
The judgment is another blow to Trump who is facing a number of cases and law suits ahead of his presidential campaign.
Columnist demanding $10 million in damages.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan rejected the Trump’s argument that any future damages should be capped. Carroll is demanding $10 million in damages.
The judge observed that the content of the statements made by Trump in 2019 and 2022 was the same. He wrote when the jury found that Trump, 77, indeed sexually abused Carroll, it effectively established that his 2019 statements also were false and defamatory.
The judge said that the trial set for January 15 will only be confined to damages.
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Trump lawyer Alina Habba has said that his legal team is hopeful that the jury verdict will be overruled.
In May a civil trial jury had observed that Donald Trump sexually abused and defamed the columnist during an encounter in the 1990s.
Last month District Judge Lewis Kaplan dismissed a defamation case by Donald Trump against E. Jean Carroll. Trump claimed that he had been insulted by the allegations of sexual abuse by a senior columnist.
