The trial of a lawsuit against former President Donald Trump, accusing him of raping writer E. Jean Carroll in the mid-1990s and defaming her last fall when he again denied her claim, continued on Wednesday. Trump’s attorney, Joseph Tacopina, confirmed that he will not be presenting any witnesses. The one expert witness that Tacopina had planned to call is unable to testify due to a health issue. On Tuesday, Tacopina also stated that Trump would not testify before the jury in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
Trump’s whereabouts during trial
Although Trump has not appeared in court since the trial began last week, he was in Scotland on Monday to break ground for a new golf course. A videotape of his deposition for the case may be played for jurors later on Wednesday. The tape includes footage from the so-called “Access Hollywood” tape, in which Trump bragged about groping and kissing women without their consent.
Witnesses set to testify
Carroll’s sister, Cande Carroll, was due to take the witness stand, followed by Natasha Stoynoff, who claims Trump assaulted her at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, in 2005. Carroll’s lawyers expect to rest their case on Thursday.
Background of the lawsuit
Carroll alleges that Trump raped her in a dressing room of the Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan after a chance encounter with him there. He has denied raping her, or even being in the store with her that date. Trump has also said he would not have had consensual sex with her because she was not his “type.” Carroll’s lawsuit claims battery by Trump for the alleged rape. The criminal statute of limitations for rape has long passed, but a recently enacted New York State law allows adults alleging sexual misconduct to file civil claims within a one-year window if those claims otherwise are barred by the statute of limitations. The jurors will start deliberations in the case next week, according to Judge Lewis Kaplan.
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