- A federal jury on Friday ordered Donald Trump to pay E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million in damages.
- During the defamation trial, Trump and his lawyers appeared to frequently irritate the presiding judge.
- Two legal experts said President Trump's poor courtroom manners likely influenced the jury's decision.
On Friday, a federal jury awarded former President Donald Trump a hefty $83.3 million verdict in the defamation case against E. Jean Carroll, ending a week and a half of tumultuous legal proceedings.
The jury deliberated for less than three hours and returned a verdict that included $18.8 million in compensatory damages and $65 million in punitive damages against Mr. Carroll.
This large sum came after President Trump displayed a brazen lack of legal decorum throughout the trial. has repeatedly criticized Carol online. He will face off against U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in a long-awaited trial. In the end, it's a simple testimony.
During the trial, Trump's lawyer Alina Haba also repeatedly provoked Kaplan's anger.The judge is anxious I scolded her 14 times regarding the Basic Law. He arrested her in just one day and even threatened to send her to prison on Friday for interfering.
John Jones, a former federal judge in Pennsylvania, told Business Insider that the actions of Trump and his defense team made what was already a difficult defense for the former president nearly impossible.
“Jurors don't like it when lawyers and litigants are rough with the judge or ignore the judge's recommendations,” said Jones, now president of Dickinson College.
Jones added that jurors tend to become attached to the presiding judge and often see him as a kind of protector. Therefore, Mr. Trump and Mr. Hubba's apparent disregard for Mr. Kaplan during the trial likely went unnoticed by the jury.
Chris Mattei, the defamation lawyer who won the $1.5 billion jury verdict in the Alex Jones defamation case, said of the jurors: “These are normal people who play by the rules.”
“And they saw a man appear in court who was giving the middle finger to the law?” Matei added. “No, normal people don't want that.”
Jones said Trump shocked the court on Friday by abruptly leaving the courtroom as Carroll's lawyers argued he had no respect for jurors, but ultimately showed no shame. Jones said his demeanor likely left a bad final impression on jurors.
“That's really disrespectful,” Jones added. “It looks arrogant and unseemly.”
Trump lost another civil case against Carroll last year, but a jury in the same courtroom found him responsible for sexually abusing her in the mid-1990s, after the former president called her a liar. He agreed that he had defamed his reputation by doing so.
The most recent civil case dealt with a 2019 lawsuit over two comments made by President Trump denying Carroll's claims. This $83.3 million award is in addition to the $5 million award Carroll was awarded at trial in May 2023.
The jury in the 2023 civil case had already found Trump liable for sexually assaulting and defaming Carroll, so this month's trial only decided on damages.
Legal experts say Friday's verdict shows the jury is serious about holding Trump accountable.
“Basically, you can't give permits to people who just ignore the law,” Mattei said. “That’s not how our system works.”
Legal experts say the total $83.3 million in damages would be a major financial blow to the former president, and Trump is almost certain to pay all or most of it.
Immediately after the ruling, Haba slammed the decision and said President Trump planned to appeal the decision.
Trump, on the other hand, used Truth Social.
“Absolutely ridiculous! I totally disagree with both rulings and will appeal this Biden-led witch hunt focused on me and the Republican Party,” Trump wrote on social media.
But Jones and Mattei said the jury's decision appears to be legally strong, so a reversal is unlikely.
“This will be a decision for us,” Mattei said.
During his deposition in the Carroll case, Trump boldly claimed that his brand was worth “billions of dollars.” Jones said it would be difficult for Trump to prove his bankruptcy, so the former president's words could hurt him now that he owes Carroll millions of dollars.
“He probably has the money to pay,” Mattei said. “This is also very important because in order to have confidence in the legal system, the public needs to understand that judgments are enforceable.”
