2023-05-08 21:24:10
The civil trial against former US President Donald Trump over allegations of rape by journalist E. Jean Carroll is coming to an end. Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan, in her closing argument in a federal court in New York yesterday, called on the jury to convict Trump: “No one is above the law, not even a past president.”
Kaplan recalled that Carroll, 79, testified for two full days at the trial, answering “question after question after question.” The jury – six men and three women – had “not heard much” from Trump.
Trump did not appear at the trial
The president stayed away from the civil trial that started at the end of April, and he was not obliged to appear. During the trial, however, footage of Kaplan questioning Trump in October was shown. The 76-year-old had once again firmly rejected Carroll’s allegations and emphasized that the former columnist for Elle magazine was not his “type”.
However, when questioned, Trump confused Carroll with his ex-wife Marla Maples in a photo from the 1990s that was shown to him. Kaplan now used this in her closing speech to cast doubt on the ex-president’s statements. The truth is that Carroll “was exactly his type,” the attorney said.
Judgment possible at any time
Trump’s attorney Tacopina, on the other hand, said the ex-president never raped Carroll: “She never went to the police because it never happened.” If Trump had raped the woman in a department store dressing room, he would have been “arrested immediately,” he said Tacopina. The jury would have to use their “common sense.”
A verdict could come anytime when the jury begins its deliberations today. Since this is a civil proceeding and not a criminal proceeding, Trump faces no jail time even if convicted.
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