Former US president, Donald Trump's absence from a trial where writer E. Jean Carroll accuses him of rape and defamation shows that "he did it," a lawyer for Carroll said on Monday, May 8.
"He never looked you in the eye and
denied raping Ms. Carroll," lawyer Mike Ferrara told jurors as the civil
trial in Manhattan federal court received final submissions.
"You should draw the conclusion that
that's because he did it."
Carroll, 79, sued Trump, 76, alleging he raped her in a dressing room at the Bergdorf
Goodman department store in Manhattan in 1995 or 1996 and then defamed her by
denying it happened in an October 2022 post on Trump's Truth Social platform.
In that post, he called her claims a
"complete con job" and "a Hoax and a lie."
The former Elle magazine advice columnist is
seeking unspecified monetary damages.
The six-man, three-woman jury was expected to
begin deliberating on Tuesday May 9.
Earlier on Monday, Carroll's lawyer Roberta
Kaplan said a 2005 "Access Hollywood" video in which Trump says women
let him "grab 'em by the pussy" bolstered the accounts of Carroll and
other women who have accused Trump of sexual assault.
"He admitted on video to doing exactly
the kinds of things that have brought us here to this courtroom," Kaplan
said.
Trump, who served as president from 2017 to
2021 and is the front-runner for the Republican U.S. presidential nomination in
2024, waived his right to testify at trial and opted not to present a defense,
feeling jurors will find that Carroll failed to make a persuasive case.
He told reporters in Ireland last week that
he would "probably" attend, but did not show up at the court.
Trump has accused Carroll of making up the
story to drive sales of a 2019 memoir in which she made her claims public. In a
video deposition played for the jury on May 3, Trump denied raping Carroll.
"It's the most ridiculous, disgusting
story," Trump said in the video. "It's just made up.
In his closing argument on Monday, Trump's
lawyer Joseph Tacopina said Carroll's inability to recall the date of the
alleged incident made it impossible for Trump to defend himself by citing an
alibi, and called the case an "affront to justice."
"This is an absolutely outrageous
case," Tacopina said.
"The facts in evidence make plain here
that E. Jean Carroll's story is not worthy of your belief, not even
close," he said.
During
three days of testimony Carroll said that during the attack Trump slammed her
against the wall, put his fingers into her vagina and then inserted his penis.
Two of Carroll's longtime friends testified
that she told them about the attack shortly after it occurred and said they
believed her. Jurors also heard from two other women who said Trump sexually
assaulted them in separate incidents decades ago. Trump denies those claims as
well.
Kaplan said Carroll had been unable to
sustain a romantic relationship since the alleged rape, and that Trump's public
criticism had harmed her client's reputation.
"For E. Jean Carroll, this lawsuit is
not about the money," Kaplan said. "This lawsuit is about getting her
name back."
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