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CNN
CNN
26 Jan 2024
Lauren del ValleJeremy HerbKara ScannellDan Berman


NextImg:Trump trial live updates: Closing arguments begin in E. Jean Carroll defamation case
Live Updates

Closing arguments to begin in E. Jean Carroll defamation trial

By Lauren del Valle, Jeremy Herb, Kara Scannell and Dan Berman, CNN

Published 8:31 AM ET, Fri January 26, 2024
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5 min ago

Trump is expected back in court today for closing arguments

From CNN's Kristen Holmes

Former President Donald Trump is expected back in court in New York Friday for the E. Jean Carroll defamation case, according to a source familiar with his plans. 

Trump briefly testified for roughly three minutes in his civil defamation trial Thursday.

Both sides will present closing arguments before the jury starts its deliberations. Jurors will determine how much the former president will have to pay Carroll in damages. She is seeking more than $10 million.

5 min ago

Here's how the jury will be considering whether Carroll is entitled to damages

From CNN's Jeremy Herb, Lauren del Valle and Kara Scannell

Closing arguments in the E. Jean Carroll defamation damages trial against Donald Trump are expected to begin on Friday. After that, the jury will determine how much money, if any, the former president must pay Carroll.

To be awarded money, Carroll has to prove that she is entitled to damages by a preponderance of the evidence, a standard used in civil cases that’s lower than what’s required in criminal trials.

That evidence standard was used in Carroll’s civil defamation case last year, in which a jury found that Carroll proved Trump had sexually abused and defamed her by a preponderance of the evidence, but that she did not prove Trump had raped her, as that crime is narrowly defined by New York’s criminal laws. Trump has appealed the verdict.

Carroll’s case last year, in which she was awarded $5 million for battery and defamation, focused on comments Trump made about Carroll in 2022. The current case is about Trump’s statements when he was president in 2019. Carroll is seeking over $10 million in damages.

After the jury was sworn in, Judge Lewis Kaplan compared the preponderance standard in the case to a scale.

“What a preponderance of the evidence means is that the plaintiff has to produce evidence which, considered in light of all of the facts, leads you to believe that what the plaintiff claims is more likely correct or true than not,” Kaplan said.
“To put it differently, if you were to put the plaintiff’s and the defendant’s evidence on opposite sides of metaphorical scales, the plaintiff has the burden to make the scales tip, even if only slightly, in the plaintiff’s favor,” the judge continued. “If they tip slightly for the plaintiff or heavily for the plaintiff, then the plaintiff has prevailed by a preponderance of the evidence. If they tip even slightly for the defendant or heavily for the defendant, then the defendant prevails on that issue.”
  • Today: Donald Trump is expected back in court Friday as closing arguments begin in the civil defamation trial against him. The trial in New York will determine how much money the former president must pay E. Jean Carroll for his statements in 2019. After closing arguments, the jury will begin deliberations.
  • Trump on trial and on the campaign trail: Both sides rested their case on Thursday, with Trump briefly testifying in his own defense. The former presidwent has been splitting his time between the courtroom and the 2024 campaign trail.
  • More about the case: Carroll, a former magazine columnist, alleged Trump raped her in a department store in the mid-1990s and then defamed her when he denied her claim. In a separate trial last year, a civil jury found Trump sexually assaulted Carroll and defamed her in 2022 statements. The judge previously ruled that verdict would carry over to this defamation trial.

Former President Donald Trump is expected back in court in New York Friday for the E. Jean Carroll defamation case, according to a source familiar with his plans. 

Trump briefly testified for roughly three minutes in his civil defamation trial Thursday.

Both sides will present closing arguments before the jury starts its deliberations. Jurors will determine how much the former president will have to pay Carroll in damages. She is seeking more than $10 million.

Closing arguments in the E. Jean Carroll defamation damages trial against Donald Trump are expected to begin on Friday. After that, the jury will determine how much money, if any, the former president must pay Carroll.

To be awarded money, Carroll has to prove that she is entitled to damages by a preponderance of the evidence, a standard used in civil cases that’s lower than what’s required in criminal trials.

That evidence standard was used in Carroll’s civil defamation case last year, in which a jury found that Carroll proved Trump had sexually abused and defamed her by a preponderance of the evidence, but that she did not prove Trump had raped her, as that crime is narrowly defined by New York’s criminal laws. Trump has appealed the verdict.

Carroll’s case last year, in which she was awarded $5 million for battery and defamation, focused on comments Trump made about Carroll in 2022. The current case is about Trump’s statements when he was president in 2019. Carroll is seeking over $10 million in damages.

After the jury was sworn in, Judge Lewis Kaplan compared the preponderance standard in the case to a scale.

“What a preponderance of the evidence means is that the plaintiff has to produce evidence which, considered in light of all of the facts, leads you to believe that what the plaintiff claims is more likely correct or true than not,” Kaplan said.
“To put it differently, if you were to put the plaintiff’s and the defendant’s evidence on opposite sides of metaphorical scales, the plaintiff has the burden to make the scales tip, even if only slightly, in the plaintiff’s favor,” the judge continued. “If they tip slightly for the plaintiff or heavily for the plaintiff, then the plaintiff has prevailed by a preponderance of the evidence. If they tip even slightly for the defendant or heavily for the defendant, then the defendant prevails on that issue.”