An attorney defending former President Donald J. Trump against writer E. Jean Carroll's lawsuit accusing him of rape said he would present no witnesses during the trial, which wraps up its sixth day Wednesday.
The attorney, Joseph Tacopina, previously told Judge Lewis A. Kaplan that Trump would not appear in Manhattan federal court to testify in the civil case.
Mr Trump, who is again running for president, is traveling to Scotland and Ireland this week. When a reporter asked him why he was in Ireland and not New York for his civil case, he replied that he had an old agreement to travel there, according to a recording. posted on Twitter on Wednesday. “I heard we did very well in New York,” Trump added.
Even without witnesses, Mr. Trump can still use the testimony they have obtained during the cross-examination of Ms. Carroll and others testifying on his behalf when they make closing arguments, most likely Monday. Judge Kaplan notified the jury that they would likely accept the case to begin deliberation early next week.
Flat refusal
The attack occurred during a visit to the luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman one night in the mid-1990s, said Ms. Carroll. As she was leaving through the turnstiles, Mr. Trump walked in and recognized her, she testified, and persuaded him to help her shop a gift for a female friend. She said the former president then raped her in the locker room in the lingerie department.
On Wednesday, Ms. Carroll, Roberta A. Kaplan, is screened for the jury clip from the October 2022 deposition by Mr. Trump. At one point, he was asked if he ever contacted Bergdorf after the allegations.
“I don't need to contact anyone,” Trump replied, adding it was because the attack never happened. “This is the most ridiculous and disgusting story,” he said. “It's just made up.”
At Mar-a-Lago
Attorney Ms. Carroll promised in their opening statement last week to show the jury not only that Mr. Trump has attacked her, but also two other women “in very similar ways”.
One, Jessica Leeds, testified on Tuesday. The other, Natasha Stoynoff, a former People magazine reporter, testified Wednesday afternoon.
Ms. Stoynoff choked up when he explained how he had traveled to Mar-a-Lago towards the end of 2005 to prepare an article about Mr. Brown's one-year wedding anniversary. Trump with his wife, Melania. Ms Stoynoff said Mr Trump took her into a room, closed the door, pushed her against the wall and started kissing her. Ms Stoynoff said she was “confused and somewhat surprised.”
Ms Stoynoff only disclosed what happened to a few friends, he said. But more than a decade later, after the disclosure of the “Access Hollywood” tape, in which Trump boasted in vulgar terms about grabbing women's genitals, he said he felt a “combination of colic pain” and “relief”. .”
“Because I actually thought for the first time, oh, he does this to a lot of women. Not only me.”
During the appearance of Ms. Stoynoff, attorney for Ms. Carroll plays the tapes for the jury.
Ms Stoynoff told jurors she decided to write publicly about what happened after Mr Trump said during a presidential debate that he would never kiss a woman without consent. He testified that he was “deeply upset that he lied to the American people.”
Stress response
When Mr Tacopina cross-examined Mrs Carroll early in the trial, she highlighted what she described as her unusual behavior during the alleged attack and her inability to remember several key details afterward. On Wednesday, Ms. Kaplan asked Dr. Leslie Lebowitz, a clinical psychologist who spent about 20 hours interviewing Ms. Carroll, in an effort to place Ms. Carroll in the context of common responses to traumatic events.
dr.
Ms Kaplan also questioned Dr Lebowitz about why Ms Carroll refused to use the words “rape” or “victim,” and how she avoided men. He also asked about how the incident affected the way Ms. Carroll looked at himself in the world.
“He blamed himself for it – he felt like he was stupid in a way that was hard to shake,” says Dr. Lebowitz. But perhaps more fundamentally than that, he says, “it made him feel like he was less valuable than before.”
Chad Seigel, one of Mr. Trump, asking Dr. Lebowitz is it fair to say that Ms. Carroll had presented his symptoms in a way that would have benefited his case. “I can't believe he did that,” says Dr. Lebowitz.
He asked if Ms. Carroll had a “personal interest” in the outcome of the case.
“He must really care about the outcome of this case,” replied Dr. Lebowitz.