(TargetLiberty.org) – A New York federal judge ruled that the jury in the defamation case brought forward by writer E. Jean Carroll against former President Donald Trump was going to be kept anonymous.
Judge Lewis Kaplan who presided over the case stated that the “repeated public statements” made by Trump about Carroll as well as his statements about the other legal cases against him influenced his decision. Currently, Trump has gag orders limiting him from making statements against court staff in two separate legal cases.
Kaplan stated that in light of the public statements being made by Trump and the extensive media coverage that the cases involving him were receiving, including this case which was likely to receive even more coverage, there was a strong argument to be made for keeping the jury anonymous for its protection.
The case Kaplan is referring to relates to the first legal case brought forward by Carroll against the former President. The second suit Carroll had brought forward went to trial in May and the anonymous jury had ruled in her favor. The jury had found that Trump was liable for sexual abuse and that he had defamed Carroll with his comments. As a result of this ruling, he was called to pay $5 million in damages.
The defamation trial for the first case Carroll brought forward will relate to the comments that Trump had made after the release of Carroll’s memoir in 2019. A federal appeals court will first need to rule on Trump’s claims that he was protected from this lawsuit as he had absolute presidential immunity at the time of these comments being made.
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