Former President Donald Trump faced a setback on Friday as the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied his request to overturn a civil jury verdict that found him liable for sexually abusing writer E. Jean Carroll in the 1990s and subsequently defaming her when she publicly shared her allegations.
The appeal was rejected by a majority of judges on the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in New York, which opted not to rehear the case en banc.
A three-judge panel from the same appellate court upheld the previous decision made by a Manhattan federal jury in December, which awarded Carroll $5 million in damages.
Two judges from the 2nd Circuit dissented from the decision not to consider a full bench rehearing of the case. Their dissent criticized the panel for what they described as “striking departures” from established legal precedents that led to the unusual ruling.
Judges Steven Menashi and Michael Park, both appointed by Trump during his presidency in 2019, expressed their disagreement in the written dissent.
Trump’s options to challenge the outcome now hinge on a potential appeal to the Supreme Court, though there is no guaranteed right to have the Supreme Court hear such cases.
This is developing news. Please check back for updates.
