Former U.S. President Donald Trump has been found liable for defamation allegations brought forth by a sexual assault victim from 28 years ago. A hefty compensation has once again been imposed on the former President.
<New York Times>(NYT) According to a report on the 26th (local time), a jury in the Southern District of New York Federal Court ruled that Trump must pay $83.3 million (approximately 1.11 trillion KRW) in damages to the plaintiff, E. Jean Carroll.
According to the court, of the $83.3 million, $18.3 million (approximately 24.4 billion KRW) is for actual damages, while the remaining $65 million (approximately 86.7 billion KRW) is punitive damages.
This trial was a civil lawsuit filed by Carroll, seeking compensation for damages from Trump’s offensive remarks.
The jury explained the reason for the compensation amount by stating that Trump’s remarks, which discredited Carroll’s sexual assault claims as false, caused ‘substantial damage’ to the plaintiff.
During the trial, the plaintiff’s side emphasized that a large compensation of at least $10 million (approximately 13.3 billion KRW) is necessary to actually make an impact on billionaire former President Trump, and the jury accepted this argument.
Carroll had previously sued Trump, claiming she was sexually assaulted by him after a chance encounter at the luxury department store ‘Bergdorf Goodman’ in Manhattan, New York in 1996. The jury acknowledged Carroll’s claim in a trial last May and ordered Trump to pay $5 million (approximately 6.6 billion KRW) in damages.
After the defeat, former President Trump poured out criticisms against Carroll and discredited her claims as false through broadcasts and other means. In one television interview, he even labeled Carroll as ‘a very mentally ill person’.
In response, Carroll filed an additional lawsuit, arguing that Trump’s remarks defamed her.
On the day of the ruling, former President Trump left the court before the jury announced their verdict.
Later, he expressed his position against the trial result by stating, “This is ridiculous” on his social media platform ‘Truth Social’.
He also claimed that the trial was a “witch hunt directed at me and the Republican Party, ordered by Joe Biden”.
Referring to the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression, Trump protested, “My constitutional rights have been deprived. This is not America”.
By. Ye Seop Han
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