District Judge Lewis Kaplan said it repeatedly: Donald Trump raped E. Jean Carroll, in 1996. Kaplan wrote the statement in May 2023 when he presided at one of Trump’s trials. He reminded the jury of the rape during the latest proceedings, in the multi-layered and winding rape cases brought by
Donald Trump sexually assaulted E. Jean Carroll in 1996, District Judge Lewis Kaplan has stated numerous times. When Kaplan was in charge of one of the Trump trials in May 2023, he wrote it. During the most recent proceedings in Carroll’s complex, winding rape and defamation cases against Trump, he also reminded jurors of the incident this week.
Author and journalist Carroll filed a lawsuit against Trump next spring, alleging that he had sexually assaulted her decades earlier and had since defamed her by denying the charges. Carroll prevailed in that lawsuit. Due to the legal application of New York State’s penal code, the jury found Trump guilty of sexual assault and ordered him to pay$ 5 million. However, they did not claim that he had raped her.
In New York, a person can only be found guilty of rape if they can demonstrate penis vaginal penetration. Trump allegedly used both of his fingers and his penis in the assault, according to Carroll’s testimony, which was a reiteration of what she had previously said in private for many years and in public for the first time in 2019. However, according to Kaplan’s decision from last year, the jury had simply found that Trump had “deliberately and violently penetrated Ms. Carroll with his fingers, causing quick pain and long lasting mental and psychological harm” during the trial.
According to Kaplan, the jury’s decision that Carroll had never established rape “does not mean that she failed to demonstrate that Mr. Trump’raped ‘ her as some people generally understand the word “repeated.” However, he continued,” the jury found that Mr. Trump in fact did that, as the evidence at trial recounted above makes obvious.”
Rape is defined in the federal law as “oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim,” or “penetration, no matter how little, by the vagina or anus with any body part or object.” While also reliant on penetration, this broader explanation would also include attacks involving the use of fingers.
Carroll’s case exists within the parameters of legal law, despite the fact that it has received national attention. Less the events detailed in her story and more the fine print of the state’s legitimate code are at play in the reason Donald Trump was not found to have sexually assaulted E. Jean Carroll. Despite the numerous other allegations of sexual misconduct against him, the specifics of New York’s law permit the former president, his supporters, and sexual violence cynics likewise to tout the case as evidence that Trump is hardly a rapist. Democratic senators did exactly that after Carroll’s first testimony. Sen. Marco Rubio ( R- Fla. ) said,” The entire case is a joke.” Sen. Tommy Tuberville ( R- Ala. ) told HuffPost,” It makes me want to vote for him twice.”
Yet, the outcome might have been different if this case had taken place outside of New York.
State criminal and civil legal systems have very different definitions of rape and other physical assault charges across the nation. Others, like Maine and Maryland, have a more broad definition of intimate violence that includes non-penetrating acts, while some states, such as Idaho, directly require genital penetration to be present in order to bring charges of rape. Many states choose language like” criminal intimate assault” or” physical battery” instead of any “rape” charges at all. Similar to this, the definition of the term” physical intercourse” varies depending on the constitutional text.
In other words, based on the address of the courtroom, the same person could commit the exact same crime and be accused of completely different offenses. The difficulties of attempting to secure justice for survivors are made more difficult by this dissonance. Additionally, as Mother Jones has recently noted, libel claims are being made against more women who come forward with their assault experiences; as Carroll’s case has demonstrated, these claims heavily depend on the language the state uses to describe sexual violence.
Carroll described the fear she has experienced over the past few years in the courtroom on Tuesday, citing the fact that she then sleeps with a gun next to her bed. ” I was assaulted. I came under attack on Twitter. She claimed that she had been attacked on Facebook and news blogs. ” I was attacked savagely.” These threats include, among other things, that she should be sexually assaulted. Donald Trump sexually assaulted E. Jean Carroll in 1996, district judge Lewis Kaplan has repeatedly stated. When Kaplan was in charge of one of the trials against Trump in May 2023, he wrote it. During the most recent proceedings in the complex, winding rape and defamation cases brought this week, he also reminded jurors of the sexual assault.
District Judge Lewis Kaplan said it repeatedly: Donald Trump raped E. Jean Carroll, in 1996. Kaplan wrote the statement in May 2023 when he presided at one of Trump’s trials. He reminded the jury of the rape during the latest proceedings, in the multi-layered and winding rape cases brought by
Attribution: Elizabeth Williams, Associated Press. Combat falsehoods: Subscribe to the complimentary Mother Jones Daily newsletter and stay informed about important news stories. District Judge Lewis Kaplan has repeatedly stated that Donald Trump sexually assaulted E. Jean Carroll in 1996. In May 2023, during the period Kaplan was overseeing a trial involving Trump, he authored the document. During the recent phase of the intricate and prolonged legal battles involving rape and defamation claims against Trump, he pointed out to the jurors about the alleged sexual assault. In the previous spring, Carroll, an author and reporter, took legal action against Trump. She testified that he sexually assaulted her years earlier and subsequently slandered her by refuting her allegations. Carroll was victorious in the lawsuit. The jury held Trump responsible for committing sexual assault, determining he owed $5 million in compensation. However, they did not conclude that he had committed rape, as under New York State’s criminal law, a rape conviction requires proof of vaginal penetration with a penis. During her testimony, Carroll repeated the account she had shared in private for many years, and publicly disclosed for the first time in 2019. She stated that Trump assaulted her using both his hands and his genitalia. However, in the course of the trial, the findings of the jury determined solely that Trump intentionally and physically inserted his fingers into Ms. Carroll’s vagina, resulting in immediate discomfort as well as prolonged emotional and psychological distress, according to the verdict from Kaplan in the previous year. Kaplan clarified that just because the jurors were not convinced Carroll established a case of rape, it should not be taken to suggest she was unable to demonstrate that Mr. Trump committed what is widely regarded by the general public as rape.
