The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear President Donald Trump's appeal of a civil jury verdict that awarded writer E. Jean Carroll $5 million in damages after jurors found that he sexually abused and defamed her. The decision leaves in place the judgment issued following the 2023 trial, marking another legal setback for the president.
The justices denied Trump's petition without providing an explanation, which is standard practice in most cases. No justice publicly noted a dissent from the decision, allowing the lower court's ruling to stand.
Trump's legal team had argued that the trial was unfair because the judge permitted testimony from two additional women who alleged they had also experienced sexual misconduct involving Trump. His attorneys maintained that the testimony unfairly influenced the jury and should not have been admitted as evidence.
Carroll's lawsuit stemmed from allegations that Trump assaulted her in a dressing room at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in New York during the mid-1990s. She publicly revealed her account in 2019 through an excerpt from her book published in New York magazine before filing a civil lawsuit alleging sexual assault and defamation after Trump denied her claims.
In May 2023, a federal jury concluded that the evidence showed Trump had sexually abused Carroll and later defamed her by denying her allegations. The jury did not find that Carroll had proven her claim of rape under the legal standards presented at trial. However, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan later explained that the jury's findings effectively determined that Trump had forcibly penetrated Carroll with his fingers, an act the judge characterized as digital rape.
Trump did not appear at the 2023 trial, and his defense team chose not to present any witnesses.
Carroll's attorneys urged the Supreme Court to reject Trump's appeal, arguing that the issues raised did not justify overturning the verdict. They also pointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which had previously ruled that the testimony from the two additional women was properly admitted and that the jury's verdict would have remained unchanged even without that evidence.
The Supreme Court's decision affects only the $5 million judgment. A separate federal jury in 2024 awarded Carroll $83.3 million in a second defamation case involving statements Trump made after the first verdict. Trump continues to challenge that judgment before a federal appeals court, meaning additional legal proceedings remain ongoing.
