The Supreme Court on Monday handed a significant legal loss to President Donald Trump by refusing to hear his appeal aimed at overturning a jury's finding that he sexually abused and later defamed writer E. Jean Carroll, leaving the landmark 2023 civil verdict intact.
The justices' decision means the $5 million judgment awarded to Carroll remains in place. The case arose from a federal lawsuit filed in Manhattan alleging that Trump assaulted Carroll in a department store dressing room in 1996, with defamation claims stemming from statements he made about her after his first term, calling her allegations a "con job" and "hoax."
Background
Carroll first publicly made her allegations against Trump in 2019, describing an encounter she said occurred decades earlier at a Manhattan department store. She filed the civil lawsuit three years later, utilizing a New York state law designed to help survivors of sexual assault pursue claims from incidents that occurred years ago.
Trump has consistently denied the allegations, with his legal team arguing throughout the proceedings that Carroll never reported the incident to police and that there were no witnesses to support her account. Trump's attorneys maintained she waited until he was president to bring her claims, characterizing her lawsuit as an attempt to "maximize political injury to him and profit for herself."
The case proceeded to trial in 2023, where U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan presiding over the Manhattan federal court allowed testimony from two other women—Jessica Leeds and Natasha Stoynoff—who recounted their own allegations of sexual misconduct by Trump. The judge also permitted jurors to view the infamous "Access Hollywood" tape in which Trump was heard making disparaging comments about women.
The Charges
The civil case involved claims of battery under New York law, stemming from the alleged 1996 assault, along with defamation claims related to Trump's public statements denying Carroll's allegations. A jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation, awarding Carroll $5 million in damages.
On appeal, Trump's legal team argued that Judge Kaplan erred by allowing testimony from Leeds and Stoynoff, whose experiences were not directly tied to Carroll's specific allegations. Trump's attorneys contended these evidentiary decisions improperly boosted the plaintiff's case and compensated for what they described as a lack of direct evidence supporting Carroll's claims.
Carroll's legal team defended the evidentiary rulings, arguing the prior misconduct evidence was properly admitted under New York law to demonstrate Trump's alleged propensity to engage in the conduct Carroll claimed. The New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the jury verdict in 2024, finding that even if certain evidentiary rulings were imperfect, they did not constitute reversible error.
Key Takeaways
- Supreme Court's refusal to hear the case leaves the $5 million civil judgment against Trump fully intact
- The underlying allegations concern an alleged assault at a Manhattan department store in 1996
- Separate $83.3 million defamation judgment remains on appeal; Trump's lawyers argue presidential immunity should shield him from those claims
- Carroll filed her lawsuit under a New York state law specifically designed to help sexual assault survivors pursue older claims
What's Next
While the $5 million verdict is now final, another significant legal battle continues. A separate defamation case brought by Carroll resulted in an $83.3 million judgment against Trump for statements he made while serving his first term in office. That case remains on appeal, with Trump's lawyers arguing that presidential immunity should protect him from liability for official communications made during his presidency.
Carroll's attorneys have maintained that Trump's defamatory statements about her were made in his personal capacity, not as part of his official duties as president.