The mainstream media, spawning largely from CNN but propagating throughout the media, have published multiple stories on how Trump was found guilty or liable for the sexual abuse of E. Jean Carroll 30 years ago. However, this is simply inaccurate and misinformation.
Others took it a step further saying Trump was found guilty of sexual assault, which is maliciously disingenuous or negligently ignorant.
What Actually Happened
First of all, this is a civil case, one cannot be found “guilty” of anything in a civil case, one can be found either liable, or not liable, for damages for which one is being sued for in a civil case.
Criminal cases are those where “guilty”, “not guilty”, or “no contest” pleas are entered and decided. This was not a criminal case.
Second, the decision handed down by the jury was that Trump is liable for defamation and civil battery to which E. Jean Carroll was awarded $3 million and $2 million respectively for a grand total of $5 million dollars.
the jury found that Trump sexually abused Carroll, sufficient to hold him liable for battery — CNN
CNN is dead wrong. They did not find that Trump sexually abused Carroll, they found him liable for civil battery.
Sexual abuse wasn’t even a liability alleged, nor was rape. Initially Carroll’s legal team alleged defamation. The only civil matter was defamation in regards to Trump saying he had never met the woman. They later added the battery allegation, not sexual misconduct, not sexual assault, not sexual abuse, nor any of the other 20 allegations of a sexual nature that could have been alleged. They didn’t even allege forcibly touching.
In New York, sexual crimes are as follows:
- Rape in the 1st degree. Class B Felony.
- Rape in the 2nd degree. Class D Felony.
- Rape in the 3rd degree. Class E Felony.
- Sexual Misconduct. Class A Misdemeanor.
- Criminal Sexual Act in the 1st Degree. Class B Felony.
- Criminal Sexual Act in the 2nd Degree. Class D Felony.
- Criminal Sexual Act in the 3rd Degree. Class E Felony.
- Forcible Touching. Class A Misdemeanor.
- Predatory Sexual Assault. Class A-II Felony.
- Predatory Sexual Assault Against a Child. Class A-II Felony.
- Course of Sexual Contact Against a Child in the 1st Degree.
Class B Felony. - Course of Sexual Contact Against a Child in the 2nd Degree.
Class D Felony. - Sexual Abuse in the 1st Degree. Class D Felony.
- Sexual Abuse in the 2nd Degree. Class A Misdemeanor.
- Sexual Abuse in the 3rd Degree. Class B Misdemeanor.
- Persistent Sexual Abuse. Class E Felony.
- Aggravated Sexual Abuse in the 1st Degree. Class B Felony.
- Aggravated Sexual Abuse in the 2nd Degree. Class C Felony.
- Aggravated Sexual Abuse in the 3rd Degree. Class D Felony.
- Aggravated Sexual Abuse in the 4th Degree. Class E Felony.
While Carroll has alleged rape, no claim was made of rape, or sexual abuse, under the New York Adult Survivors Act (ASA)²⁷, they were only insinuated as elements under the battery claim.
Notably, battery is not a crime in New York. You cannot be arrested for “battery”, rather, battery is a civil tort. It also has nothing to do with assault.
Assault is crime, battery is a civil tort. Assault is illegal, battery is unlawful and as such, Battery does not require mens rea (legal term for criminal intent).
Tort: a wrongful act or an infringement of a right (other than under contract) leading to civil legal liability.
Battery is defined under New York civil tort law as “ intentional unwanted touching”. Simply grabbing someone’s arm can be tortuous battery. However, it is not considered battery if there is no injury. In Carroll’s case, defamation is the “injury” as well as “mental anguish”.
Sexual Abuse Vs. Civil Battery
There’s no mystery why Carroll’s attorney’s decided to go with civil battery, they had no case. Civil battery requires no proof of a sexual crime, or any crime at all since battery itself is not a crime. For example, sexual abuse requires criminal intent, otherwise it becomes negligence.
The media is referring to the jurors ballet which listed “rape”, “sexual abuse”, and “forcible touching” as elements of a potential civil battery claim. However, these do not have to proven as crimes. They do not require criminal intent. They need only prove that Trump touched the woman without her consent, they can call that whatever they want to, including sexual abuse, however, it does not meet the legal definition of sexual abuse in New York and under the civil allegation it is not a crime so it’s disingenuous to report that Trump “sexually abused” anyone since that is a felony and that was not proven, or even claimed for injury.
They could have claimed sexual abuse, but then they would have had to prove it and wouldn’t be able to. For example, here’s a case filed against Leon Black under the ASA with a clear claim of Sexual Assault.
Here’s another against Bill Cosby.
Like the Black case, the Coby case clearly claims sexual battery and negligence under the ASA.
Here are the claims in the Trump case:
Note that only battery and defamation exist and while “rape” and “sexual abuse” are mentioned, they are not claimed. They are only elements of battery which do not have to be proven as criminal actions since the actual claim is civil battery and that is a tort.
Checking the box does not imply guilt of a crime as in the criminal offense of “sexual abuse” as defined by New York state law, it implied liability for behavior that the attorney’s of the plaintiff described as “sexual abuse” in supported of the actual claim of civil battery, but is not “sexual abuse” in the criminal sense.
This is essentially a legal trick to insinuate guilt of a crime when a crime cannot be proven in an effort to smear the defendant and present the appearance of the plaintiff being truthful without the plaintiff being truthful or the defendant being guilty of a crime.
Notably, the defamation, nor the battery, required the mention of rape or abuse for Trump to be held liable and Trump did not even have to be present to be held liable for civil battery,
Media Misinformation
I have no personal opinion on the case, but I can offer this as a rather interesting point of view of the accuser.
It doesn’t exactly scream “credibility”, but of course, neither does Trump. I do find it curious that she is a journalist and was “allegedly” involved in what would have been the biggest story of the decade at the time, but didn’t bother to mention it.
Regardless, I couldn’t care less, what I am interested in is the continued dishonesty of corporate media and this is a prime example of that very thing. The mainstream media is being either intentionally disingenuous, flat out lying, or are negligently ignorant. Likely a combination of one of the former two and the latter.
They are definitively stating that Trump was found liable of sexual abuse, with some saying sexual assault, and insinuating guilt of some sort of sexual crime, however, that could not be further from the actual truth.
They also say that the jury rejected the rape claim, but there was no rape claim, there was only an element of rape mentioned under a civil battery claim and one that did not have to be proven with intent (notably, they still rejected it).
Many outlets are mentioning the statute of limitations as if this is preventing a criminal indictment and additional making the statement that Trump will serve no prison time, however, there was no crime alleged.
Civil battery and defamation are not crimes and as such, no statute of limitations exist in the first place. There is nothing in the decision of this civil suit that could be considered criminal activity and nothing Carroll is being rewarded for was illegal. Moreover, mentioning “prison time” is simply ignorant since without a crime, there can be no prison time.
Trump was not found guilty, or liable, for sexual abuse, sexual assault, or any other sexual crime of any kind. He was found liable of defamation and civil battery, which is a tort. Neither allegation constitutes criminal activity.
Notably, some media outlets (NPR, CBS)²⁸, to their credit, are beginning to omit the “sexual abuse” tag from their subsequent headline and simply saying “civil battery and defamation case” or “defamation and civil battery case”, most likely to avoid a defamation lawsuit of their own.
Trump has appealed the decision which is likely to head to a new trial given the jurors are 80% biased so the lack of ability for a fair trial claim would be viable.
Trump clearly defamed the woman. He claimed he never met her, but there is a picture of him meeting her. Plain and simple. How the jury justified injury to the degree of multiple millions is anyone's guess, but there is no doubt Trump met her, then said he didn’t meet her, and that is defamation if she suffered injury.
However, this nonsense of Trump being found guilty of a sexual crime is just ridiculousness to the point of being comical.
References:
- Rape, 1st Degree — N.Y. Penal Law § 130.35; see also id. § 130.00 (definitions); id. § 70.80 (penalty).
- Rape, 2nd Degree — N.Y. Penal Law § 130.30; see also id. § 130.00 (definitions); id. § 70.80 (penalty).
- Rape, 3rd Degree — N.Y. Penal Law § 130.25; id. § 130.05 (lack of consent); id. § 70.80 (penalty).
- Sexual Misconduct — N.Y. Penal Law § 130.20; id. § 70.15 (penalty).
- Criminal Sexual Act, 1st Degree —N.Y. Penal Law § 130.50; id. § 70.80 (penalty).
- Criminal Sexual Act, 2nd Degree — N.Y. Penal Law § 130.45; see also id. § 70.80 (penalty).
- Criminal Sexual Act, 3rd Degree —N.Y. Penal Law § 130.40; see also id. § 70.80 (penalty).
- Forcible Touching — N.Y. Penal Law § 130.52; see id. § 70.15 (penalty)
- Predatory Sexual Assualt — N.Y. Penal Law §130.95; see also id. §§ 70.80, 70.00, 70.06, 70.08 (penalty).
- Predatory Sexual Assault Against a Child — N.Y. Penal Law §130.96; see also id. §§ 70.80, 70.00, 70.06, 70.08 (penalty).
- Course of Sexual Contact Against a Child in the 1st Degree — N.Y. Penal Law §130.75; see also id. § 70.80 (penalty).
- Course of Sexual Contact Against a Child in the 2nd Degree — N.Y. Penal Law §130.80; see also id. § 70.80 (penalty).
- Sexual Abuse in the 1st Degree — N.Y. Penal Law §130.65; see also id. §§ 130.00, 130.05 (definitions); id. § 70.80 (penalty).
- Sexual Abuse in the 2nd Degree — N.Y. Penal Law §130.60; see also id. § 130.00 (definitions); id. § 70.50 (penalty).
- Sexual Abuse in the 3rd Degree — N.Y. Penal Law §130.55; see also id. § 130.00 (definitions); id. § 70.15 (penalty).
- Persistent Sexual Abuse — N.Y. Penal Law § 130.53; see also id. § 130.00 (definitions); id. § 70.80 (penalty).
- Aggravated Sexual Abuse in the 1st Degree — N.Y. Penal Law §130.70; see also id. § 130.00 (definitions); id. § 70.80 (penalty).
- Aggravated Sexual Abuse in the 2nd Degree — N.Y. Penal Law §130.67; see also id. § 130.00 (definitions); id. § 70.80 (penalty).
- Aggravated Sexual Abuse in the 3rd Degree — N.Y. Penal Law §130.66; see also id. § 130.00 (definitions); id. § 70.80 (penalty).
- Aggravated Sexual Abuse in the 4th Degree — N.Y. Penal Law §130.65-a.; see also id. § 130.00 (definitions); id. § 70.80 (penalty).
- https://www.nycbar.org/get-legal-help/article/personal-injury-and-accidents/battery/
- CNN Article: https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/09/politics/e-jean-carroll-trump-lawsuit-battery-defamation-verdict/index.html
- CNN Article: https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/e-jean-carroll-trump-trial-verdict-05-09-23/index.html
- WSJ Article: https://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trump-found-liable-in-e-jean-carroll-civil-case-ordered-to-pay-5-million-for-sexual-abuse-and-defamation-25e175b9
- CNBC Article: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/09/trump-rape-defamation-trial-jury-gets-instructions-from-judge-.html
- NBC Article: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/jury-reaches-verdict-e-jean-carroll-rape-defamation-case-trump-rcna82778
- https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2021/a648/amendment/a
- Trump Appeal: https://www.reuters.com/legal/trump-files-notice-appeal-lawsuit-brought-by-e-jean-carroll-2023-05-11/#:~:text=WASHINGTON%2C%20May%2011%20(Reuters),defamed%20writer%20E.%20Jean%20Carroll.&text=The%20jury%20in%20Manhattan%20federal,79%2C%20%245%20million%20in%20damages.