Did the jury or the judge find Trump liable for sexual abuse or defamation in the Carroll case?
Executive summary
A federal jury in May 2023 found Donald Trump liable in civil court for sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll (but not for rape) and for defaming her, and ordered $5 million in damages; appellate courts have since affirmed that $5 million verdict and larger related defamation awards, and Trump is seeking Supreme Court review [1] [2] [3].
1. What the jury actually decided: liability for sexual abuse and defamation
A Manhattan federal jury in May 2023 concluded that Trump was civilly liable for sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll during an encounter in a department‑store dressing room in the 1990s and also liable for defaming her when he publicly denied the allegation years later; jurors explicitly rejected the criminal definition of rape while finding sexual‑abuse liability and defamation liability, leading to a $5 million civil judgment in that trial [1] [2].
2. What the judge decided before and after the jury: evidentiary rulings and summary judgment
Judge Lewis A. Kaplan made several pretrial and trial rulings that shaped what the jury could consider — for example, allowing testimony from other women and certain recordings under federal rules permitting propensity evidence in sexual‑assault civil cases — and the district court also issued a partial summary judgment in a related defamation matter; those rulings were central to later appeals challenging the fairness of the trial [4] [5].
3. Appeals and panels: courts affirmed the jury, including the $5M award
A three‑judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reviewed Trump’s appeal and affirmed the district court’s judgment, including the $5 million award, concluding that the district court’s evidentiary decisions were within permissible bounds and that any errors were harmless [4] [2].
4. Separate but connected defamation findings produced larger awards
Related litigation produced additional jury findings and larger monetary awards tied to defamation claims: a January 2024 jury ordered $83.3 million on separate defamation claims, a judgment the appeals court later described as reasonable given the record; those separate rulings have been litigated in parallel and are part of the broader Carroll litigation timeline [5] [6].
5. Trump’s legal strategy: contesting evidence and asserting immunity arguments
Trump’s lawyers have repeatedly argued that the trial judge erred by admitting “highly inflammatory propensity evidence,” including testimony from other accusers and the “Access Hollywood” recording, and they have also pressed arguments about presidential immunity; appeals courts have rejected those challenges to date, and Trump has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review the $5 million civil verdict [7] [3].
6. What the Supreme Court request targets and the stakes
The petition to the Supreme Court seeks to overturn the jury’s civil finding that Trump sexually abused and defamed Carroll, arguing evidentiary and immunity errors; if the Supreme Court takes the case and rules for Trump, it could vacate or narrow the judgments, but whether the Court will grant review remains uncertain and requires at least four justices to agree to hear it [3] [7].
7. How major outlets and the appeals court characterize the verdict
Mainstream news organizations and the Second Circuit have summarized the outcome consistently: jurors found Trump liable for sexual abuse (not rape) and defamation, and appellate panels have upheld those findings and the $5 million judgment while separately upholding larger defamation awards in connected proceedings [1] [2] [6].
8. Limits of available reporting and remaining questions
Available sources do not mention certain trial minutiae — for example, specific jury instructions language beyond the broad battery categories, the detailed breakdown of compensatory versus punitive damages within the $5 million award in that particular verdict, or whether any further district‑court post‑judgment motions remain pending; reporting does, however, document the appellate affirmances and ongoing Supreme Court petition [4] [2] [3].
Context and competing views are clear in the record: jurors delivered the initial civil finding of sexual‑abuse and defamation liability (not rape), multiple appeals courts have upheld those results, and Trump’s team continues to press evidentiary and immunity claims up to the Supreme Court [1] [2] [7].