A jury has begun deliberations in a defamation lawsuit against former President Donald and will decide whether he owes writer E. Jean Carroll dozens millions of dollars for sexually assaulting her in 1996.
During closing arguments in a Manhattan courtroom, the former president, 77, dramatically walked out as Carroll’s attorney said the jury should punish Trump and asked for at least $24 million in damages.
After Trump left, Senior District Judge Lewis Kaplan said, “The record will show that Mr. Trump just stood up and walked out of the courtroom.”
The former president returned to the courtroom more than an hour later and took his seat again to listen to Habba’s closing arguments. The evidence was completed shortly before lunchtime, after which jurors were sent out to consider the case.
Donald Trump watches as his lawyer Alina Habba gets into a heated argument with Judge Lewis Kaplan as she delivers closing arguments in court in Manhattan.
In this courtroom sketch, Roberta Kaplan, attorney for E. Jean Carroll, gives her brief to the jury in Manhattan federal court as former President Donald Trump, far left, and E. Jean Carroll, far right, listen.
Trump appeared disinterested as Judge Kaplan read the instructions to the jurors — and at one point even appeared to slump in his chair and look at the ceiling.
His decision to run away followed a blockbuster back-and-forth in which Habba and judge Kaplan locked horns.
“You’re about to spend some time in jail,” the judge warned Habba. ‘Sit down’.
Later he told Habba, “You will not quarrel with me.”
Chaos erupted Friday during the defamation trial of E. Jean Carroll when Donald Trump left the court and the judge warned his lawyer Alina Habba that she was about to “spend time in jail”
The former president, 77, walked out dramatically when one of Carroll’s lawyers Roberta Kaplan said the jury should punish Trump, claiming ‘he thinks the rules don’t apply to him’
Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan said Trump should pay her client “a lot” for defaming her.
A civil jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse last year after the 80-year-old Carroll alleged he assaulted her in the dressing room of a Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan in the mid-1990s.
Since then, he has continued to vociferously deny meeting Carroll. Her lawyers have accused Trump of unleashing a “storm of hatred” against her.
Roberta Kaplan, who is not related to Judge Kaplan, asked for $12 million for damage to her client’s reputation, another $12 million for emotional harm caused, and more in punitive damages.
She told the court: ‘It will take unusually high damages to stop Donald Trump. All Donald Trump cares about is money.
“Now is the time to make him pay for it, and now is the time to make him pay dearly.”
“The sexual assault happened — and Donald Trump’s denials and blatant accusations against her were all complete lies,” she said.
The tense exchange between the judge and Habba was sparked by Trump’s lawyer attempting to introduce a slideshow of tweets that were not entered into evidence.
“You’re not going to use a slide to show how many tweets there were, you’re not going to use that slide, period,” Judge Kaplan said.
Habba arrives at Trump Tower before the dramatic court hearing. The former president, 77, dramatically walked out when one of Carroll’s lawyers said, “Donald J. Trump thinks the rules don’t apply to him.”
The tense discussion was sparked by Habba attempting to introduce a slideshow of tweets they had not presented as evidence
Roberta Kaplan showed the jury social media posts threatening her client.
She said, “Imagine knowing that all these people hate you. They all want you to be raped or killed.”
Habba responded on behalf of Trump: “President Trump has no more control over the thoughts and feelings of social media users than he does over the weather.”
She added: “Ladies and gentlemen, I have received three this week alone. That’s me on a good day.’
Judge Kaplan called that comment “inappropriate” and told the jury to ignore it.
Habba later added, “Ladies and gentlemen, this is not about President Trump and E. Jean Carroll, this is about some people in their mothers’ basements who will always be mean on social media, you can’t stop that. ‘
While the case was ongoing, Trump posted a lengthy tirade on his Truth Social network, claiming he was being “extorted,” that the procedure was “unAmerican” and that the department store incident never happened.
He wrote: “I am the only one injured by this attempted extortion.
“I’ve been considered an A-list celebrity for decades… it would have been impossible for me to walk into a busy department store (surrounded by buildings I own), right across from the checkout counter. without anyone writing about me. on page six, and on all other channels at the time.’
Trump had earlier waved to his fans as he entered court on Friday morning, before the dramatic start to the hearing.
He left Trump Tower with Habba after the defense dropped their case against Carroll, a former Elle magazine columnist who accuses him of assaulting her at a department store in the 1990s.
Trump faces up to $10 million in damages for defaming Carroll by claiming he never met her when she accused him of sexual assault
It followed a dramatic Thursday in court where Trump dramatically took the witness stand and testified for just three minutes
From the stand, Trump told a civilian jury he wanted to defend himself and “the presidency” by making accusations that were “totally false”
It followed a dramatic Thursday in court where Trump dramatically took the witness stand and testified for just three minutes.
Trump could face millions of dollars in damages for defaming Carroll by claiming he never met her when she accused him of sexual assault.
On Thursday, Trump told the civil jury from the stand that he wanted to defend himself and “the presidency” by making accusations that were “completely false.”
Before testifying, he was reprimanded by the judge for speaking too loudly from his seat, and the judge then repeatedly interrupted him during his testimony, forcing him to stick to a yes or no decision.
As he left court Thursday, Trump looked back at the packed courtroom, shook his head and said, “This is not America.” Not America. This isn’t America.’