Supreme Court Denies Trump’s Appeal in Carroll Case

The Supreme Court has once more turned down former President Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn a $5 million jury decision. This verdict pertained to the case where Trump was found to have sexually abused writer E. Jean Carroll at a department store in New York City during the mid-1990s and subsequently defamed her. Trump’s legal team had requested the justices to reconsider their earlier decision to not hear his appeal, but the court dismissed his petition along with others.

While it’s not typical for the Supreme Court to grant such petitions, it does happen on occasion. Trump paid the original judgment shortly after the court chose not to hear his appeal back in June. Additionally, both Trump and the Justice Department are seeking to have the court discard a second verdict in Carroll’s favor, amounting to $83 million. They argue that Trump is immune from lawsuits regarding comments he made about Carroll in 2019, when he served as president. The court has not yet responded to this appeal.

Carroll, known as a veteran advice columnist and former television talk show host, provided testimony during a trial held in 2023. She recounted how a seemingly friendly encounter with Trump in the 1990s escalated into a violent incident in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman, a luxury store located across from Trump Tower in Manhattan. The jury determined that Trump was liable for defaming Carroll after he denied her claims in 2022. Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing in the matter.

The Associated Press does not reveal the identities of individuals who report sexual assault unless they make their story public, as Carroll has done.