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**Hugh** · 26-01-2024, 22:14

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NEW YORK — A federal court jury awarded a total of $83.3 million in damages to E. Jean Carroll for defamatory comments Donald Trump made about her as president in 2019, remarks attacking her character that kicked off years of threats and harassment from the former president’s supporters. Most of the award involved $65 million in punitive damages after jurors concluded that Trump acted spitefully and wantonly towards Carroll after she accused him of sexually assaulting her in the 1990s. Jurors also awarded a combined $18.3 million in compensatory damages.

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Because this was a civil trial, not a criminal one, former president Donald Trump did not face the possibility of time behind bars. E. Jean Carroll’s lawyers also only had to prove their case by a standard known as preponderance of evidence. Unlike proving something beyond a reasonable doubt — the standard in criminal trials — in this case, jurors were essentially asked whether it was more likely her claims were true than not. On the jury verdict form, they were asked whether she proved, “by a preponderance of evidence,” a few things. They were asked whether Carroll proved by that standard that she had “suffered more than nominal damages” due to Trump’s statements; whether he acted “maliciously, out of hatred, ill will, or spite,” among other things; and whether he did so “in wanton, reckless, or willful disregard” of her rights. On all three counts, the jurors said Carroll had proven her case.

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Today’s ruling may not be the end of the story, according to Andy McCarthy, a former assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District. “In theory, if [Donald Trump] continues to repeat what he said, she can continue to sue him, and seek more millions [in] damages,” McCarthy said on Fox News.