E Jean Carroll v Donald Trump: What each side said in closing arguments, as jurors prepare to deliberate

Ms Carroll alleges Mr Trump raped her inside a department store dressing room in the 1990s

Left: E Jean Carroll leaves Manhattan federal court on 8 May 2023 in New York City – Right: Donald Trump disembarks his plane on 1 May 2023 in Aberdeen, Scotland (Left: Stephanie Keith/Getty Images – Right: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Lawyers on each side of the E Jean Carroll v Donald Trump trial delivered closing arguments on Monday (8 May), wrapping up the proceedings a day before jurors were expected to start deliberating.

The trial began on 25 April in Manhattan federal court. It stems from a civil complaint filed by Ms Carroll against Mr Trump last year, for battery and defamation. She alleges that Mr Trump raped her in a dressing room at a Bergdorf Goodman in Manhattan, in 1995 or 1996, and defamed her in a subsequent denial. Mr Trump has maintained he did not attack Ms Carroll.

Judge Lewis A Kaplan told jurors that they would begin deliberations on Tuesday (9 May), after he spends about an hour reading them the law that will pertain to battery and defamation. If jurors find in Ms Carroll’s favor, they can award damages.

Ms Kaplan did not specify the amount of money jurors should award Ms Carroll in damages, if they find in her favour, per Reuters. She said Ms Carroll had been unable to sustain a romantic relationship since the alleged rape, and that Mr Trump’s public criticism had harmed her client’s reputation.

“For E. Jean Carroll, this lawsuit is not about the money,” she said. “This lawsuit is about getting her name back.”

‘No one is above the law’

Attorney Roberta Kaplan, who represents Ms Caroll (and who isn’t related to Judge Kaplan), urged jurors to hold Mr Trump accountable, stating that no one is above the law – not even a former president, according to the Associated Press.

Ms Kaplan referred to the 2005 Access Hollywood tape that made headlines in 2016, when Mr Trump was running for president, in which he can be heard claiming that “when you’re a star”, you can do “anything” to women, including “[grabbing] them by the p***y.”

Ms Kaplan played the Access Hollywood tape in court on Monday, recalling his comment that "stars like him can get away with sexually assaulting women,” the AP reported.

“That’s who Donald Trump is. That is how he thinks. And that’s what he does,” Ms Kaplan said. “He thinks he can get away with it here.”

Eleven witnesses

Ms Kaplan contrasted the 11 witnesses Ms Carroll’s side put forward (including Ms Carroll herself) to Mr Trump’s decision not to testify in person during the trial. (Mr Trump provided a video deposition.)

“He didn’t even bother to show up here in person,” Ms Kaplan said, according to the AP. She told jurors that much of what Mr Trump said in a video deposition and in public statements “actually supports our side of the case.”

“In a very real sense, Donald Trump is a witness against himself,” she said. “He knows what he did. He knows that he sexually assaulted E Jean Carroll.”

Attorney Mike Ferrara told jurors of Mr Trump, per Reuters: “He never looked you in the eye and denied raping Ms Carroll. You should draw the conclusion that that's because he did it.”

Ms Kaplan recounted the testimony of two women who say they too were attacked sexually by Mr Trump.

Jessica Leeds, 81, said he grabbed her chest and ran his hand up her skirt on a 1979 airline flight, according to the AP. Natasha Stoynoff said he forcibly kissed her at his Florida mansion in 2005 as she worked on a story about his marriage for People magazine.

"Three different women, decades apart, but one single pattern of behavior," Ms Kaplan said, per Reuters.

Mr. Trump’s defense

In his own closing argument, Mr Trump’s lawyer Joseph Tacopina urged jurors to set aside any opinions they might have about Mr Trump, and sought to discredit Ms Carroll’s allegations.

"What E Jean Carroll has done here is an affront to justice,” he said, according to Reuters. She has abused this system by bringing a false claim for amongst other things money, status, political reasons.”

Mr Tacopina said Ms Carroll’s inability to recall the date of the alleged incident made it impossible for Mr Trump to defend himself.

“With no date, no month, no year, you can’t present an alibi, you can’t call witnesses,” he said, per Reuters. “What they want is for you to hate him enough to ignore the facts.”

Mr Tacopina told jurors they won’t have to “let [Ms Carroll] profit to the tune of millions of dollars” because they will be left with “no doubt about how this story, this scam of a lawsuit, came together,” according to The Associated Press.

The outlet noted that Mr Tacopina repeatedly labeled Carroll’s claims “unbelievable,” saying she brought them to raise her status and for political reasons.

“This is an absolutely outrageous case,” Mr Tacopina said, according to Reuters. “The facts in evidence make plain here that E Jean Carroll’s story is not worthy of your belief, not even close.”

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this story