Deliberations began Tuesday in former President Donald Trump's defamation and battery trial that's based on a civil lawsuit brought by E. Jean Carroll.
Carroll, who brought the lawsuit in November, alleges that Trump defamed her in his 2022 Truth Social post by calling her allegations "a Hoax and a lie" and saying "This woman is not my type!" when he denied her claim that Trump raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the 1990s.
The former Elle magazine columnist added a charge of battery under a recently adopted New York law that allows adult survivors of sexual abuse to sue their alleged attacker regardless of the statute of limitations. Trump has denied all allegations that he raped Carroll or defamed her.
The jury is considering whether to hold Trump liable for battering Carroll and for defaming her and, if so, whether she deserves to be paid damages.
During closing arguments Monday, Carroll's attorney, Roberta Kaplan, told jury members that Carroll was "was exactly" Trump's type and that he sexually assaulted Carroll the very way he described treating women on the infamous "Access Hollywood" tape in which Trump is heard saying about women that "I just start kissing them ... I don't even wait" and that when you're a star you can "grab them by the p----."
Attorneys for Carroll also chided Trump for failing to testify in his own defense.
"There wasn't even a 'He said,'" Carroll's attorney, Michael Ferrara, told the jury in his closing rebuttal. Carroll "showed up," said Ferrara, while Trump was "nowhere to be found."
Trump defense attorney Joe Tacopina seized on the fact that Carroll has not been able to recall the date of the alleged rape, asking jury members during his closing argument, "What could I have asked him? Where were you on some unknown date 27 or 28 years ago?"
"And why is there no date to an event as significant as this in someone's life?" Tacopina said. "It's not a coincidence. With no date, no month, no year, you can't present an alibi."
The trial is taking place as Trump seeks the White House for a third time, while facing numerous legal challenges related to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, his handling of classified material after leaving the White House, and possible attempts to interfere in Georgia's 2020 vote.