A defamation trial against Donald Trump begins today in New York civil courts with an American former journalist, E. Jean Carroll, accusing the former president of the United States of raping her in the 1990s.< /p>
The trial, from which Trump is almost certain to be absent, will begin in federal civil court in Manhattan after jurors are selected, who will have to determine the amount of damages that should potentially be awarded to this former chronographer for Elle magazine, aged 79 today.
It's a delicate legal case – for alleged defamation against the backdrop of rape allegations – that since 2019 has pitted Carroll against Trump, the billionaire former president, who has been besieged by legal cases, including since April an unprecedented one for former president indicted in New York on 34 counts of accounting and financial fraud.
At 76, the former occupant of the White House (2017-2021) is seeking re-election in November 2024.
< p> Carol accuses Trump of raping her in a New York department store fitting room in 1995 or 1996.
Opting in November 2019 to appeal to the civil courts for defamation, he had then filed a lawsuit against Trump because in June of the same year he had called "complete lies" her accusations of rape.
The then Republican president always replied that Carol "is not the type of woman he prefers" and his lawyers argued in 2019 that their client was protected by head of state immunity.
As for the rape charges, Carol was unable to file a lawsuit in 2019 because the alleged offense was statute-barred.
However, on November 24, 2022, a New York state law (« ;Adult Survivors Act») which allows victims of sexual assault to appeal to civil courts for one year.
In November, Carol thus filed a new civil action in New York for “defamation”, but also for “assault”. and asked for a trial for damages, with her lawyers accusing Trump in the suit of “grossing, groping and raping'' her.
The civil trial, which could last one to two weeks, was scheduled to begin on April 10, but was postponed until today.
The two protagonists had submitted their affidavits in October.
According to his testimony, which he filed through video link and which was made public by justice in January, Donald Trump remains on the same line of defense: «I will say this with the greatest respect: according to' first of all he's not my type· then, that never happened.
However, in a photo of him with Carroll at a reception in the 1990s, Trump had mistaken the reporter for his ex-wife, the actress Marla Maples , 59 years old, to whom he was married from 1993 to 1999.
Source: APE-MPE
