Carroll verdict: Supreme Court rejects Trump’s bid

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to reconsider a $5 million civil verdict against President Donald Trump in favour of writer E. Jean Carroll, bringing another setback to his legal efforts to overturn the judgment. According to a Reuters report, the justices on Monday August 17, rejected Trump’s request to revisit their earlier decision in June, when the court declined to hear his appeal of the 2023 jury verdict.

The unsigned order gave no reason for the decision. The Supreme Court rarely agrees to rehear cases after rejecting an appeal. The verdict arose from Carroll’s allegations that Trump sexually assaulted her in the 1990s at a Manhattan department store and later defamed her by publicly denying the allegations. A jury in 2023 found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll and defaming her but did not find him liable for rape, the specific allegation she had made.

The case centred on statements Trump made in 2022, when he described Carroll’s allegations as a “hoax” and a “con job” in a social media post. Trump has consistently denied Carroll’s allegations and has maintained that her claims were fabricated. Following the Supreme Court’s decision in June not to hear his appeal, Carroll collected nearly $5.63 million from Trump, representing the $5 million civil award plus accrued interest. But Trump’s legal battle with Carroll is not over. The Supreme Court is still considering whether to hear his appeal of a separate $83.3 million defamation award handed down by a jury in 2024.

That case stems from statements Trump made in 2019, during his first presidency, after Carroll publicly accused him of raping her in a Manhattan department store dressing room around 1996. Trump denied the accusation and accused Carroll of lying. His lawyers argue that presidential immunity should shield him from liability for the statements he made while serving as president. They further contend that lower courts were wrong to conclude that Trump had forfeited his immunity defence. Trump’s lawyers had argued in their request for reconsideration of the $5 million case that the Supreme Court’s eventual decision on the separate $83.3 million case could affect the earlier verdict as well.

The dispute comes against the backdrop of the Supreme Court’s landmark 2024 ruling on presidential immunity. In that decision, the court held that former presidents have immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts within their constitutional authority. The Carroll litigation, however, involves civil rather than criminal claims. Trump has continued to challenge the judgments while Carroll has pursued enforcement of the awards. The Supreme Court’s latest refusal means the $5 million verdict remains intact, while attention now shifts to whether the justices will agree to hear Trump’s separate appeal concerning the much larger $83.3 million defamation judgment.

By: Joyce Owusu