A screen displays the video deposition of a former US President Donald Trump in court during a civil trial where former Elle magazine advice columnist E. Jean Carroll accuses the former US President in a civil lawsuit of the raped in a department store dressing room in the mid-1990s. , and defamation, in New York, U.S. on May 4, 2023 in this courtroom sketch.
Jane Rosenberg | Reuters
A jury began deliberations Tuesday in the civil trial where former President Donald Trump is accused of raping and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll.
Deliberations by the nine-member jury began at 11:50 a.m. ET after Judge Lewis Kaplan gave the panel final instructions and a verdict form in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
If the jurors unanimously determine that Carroll has proven either of his claims, they will decide whether to award him damages.
The jury is made up of six men and three women.
Carroll, 79, alleges in a lawsuit that Trump sexually assaulted her in a dressing room at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in the mid-1990s. She also claims he defamed her last fall when he said that she had invented the account. Trump called the allegations “complete bullshit” and said she was not his “type”.
Trump, who leads early polls for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, did not testify at the trial.
But parts of his deposition taken last fall by Carroll’s attorney were played for jurors during the trial and during closing arguments on Monday.
Carroll took the witness stand. So did two women who testified that she told them right after the alleged incident that Trump had raped her.
Two other women testified that Trump kissed and groped them without their consent in incidents that occurred years apart.
This is breaking news. Check back for updates.
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