Closing arguments are underway on Former President Donald Trump’s defamation, battery trial

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NEW YORK CITY — E. Jean Carroll “exactly” typed Donald Trump and sexually assaulted him in the same way she described his treatment of women in the infamous Access Hollywood tape, a lawyer for Carroll said on Monday in a closing statement on his defamation and battery. test.

The attorney, Roberta Kaplan, replayed for the jury the excerpt from Trump’s October 2022 deposition in which he confused Carroll for his second wife.

“What did Mr. Trump do after I showed him that photograph? He looked at it for a second and then, completely off guard, he said ‘this is Marla,'” Carroll told the jury. “He is exactly her type!”

Kaplan insists that Trump only corrected himself when his own lawyer jumped in, realizing how potentially damaging the statement was.

“He said the picture was blurry. But that’s the picture ladies and gentlemen,” Kaplan said, holding up a 1980s-era photo of Carrol, her then-husband John Johnson, Trump and her then-wife Ivanna Trump. “The truth is that E Jean Carroll, a former cheerleader and Ms. Indiana, is exactly Donald Trump’s type.”

Kaplan linked Trump’s false identity to his statements on the Access Hollywood tape, in which he was heard to start kissing women without waiting and touching their genitals.

“What is Donald Trump doing here? He’s telling you in his own words how he treats women. This is his modus operandi,” Kaplan said.

During the impeachment, Trump was heard saying how the stars can get away with the behavior: “Well, that’s if you look over the last million years. I think it’s more true. Not always, but more than all true. Unfortunately or fortunately,” Trump was heard saying.

“Fortunately or unfortunately? Who would say fortunately to describe the act of sexual assault? I know who,” Kaplan said. “He thinks people like him can get away with it. He thinks he can get away with it.”

Kaplan pleaded with the jury, “You have to hold him accountable for what he did.”

He also reminded the jury in closing statements that former President Trump has no defense in his battery and defamation trial.

“He didn’t even bother to show up here in person,” said Kaplan.

He said Trump offered the jury nothing but “lie after lie” and proved he was unworthy of the jury’s trust.

The defense relied on cross-examination of 11 prosecution witnesses, including Carroll himself who was repeatedly asked by defense attorney Joe Tacopina why he didn’t scream during the alleged rape.

Kaplan reminded the jury of a psychologist who testified that “Screaming is one of the most unlikely things that actually happens.”

Kaplan said other behaviors of Carroll’s that the defense is talking about are also consistent with someone who has experienced trauma, including watching The Apprentice, keeping the clothes she wore the night of the -alleged assault, and return to Bergdorf Goodman. Not doing those things, Kaplan said, would have forced Carroll to acknowledge how deeply the alleged rape had affected him.

Kaplan said Trump’s argument seemed to be that if he were to accuse her of rape “he would have to play the part” but the lawyer argued that this was inconsistent with the expectations placed on victims of other types. of crime.

“Are they required to live a life of total suffering in order to seek justice in the court? Of course not,” said Kaplan.

In his closing statement, Kaplan asked the jury for an unspecified damage award, saying the case was not about money but about restoring Carroll’s name.

“What’s the price for decades of living alone without company? No one to cook dinner, no one to hang out with your dog, no one to watch TV with,” Kaplan said. “I’m not going to put a number on that.”

Still, he asked the jury to hold Trump accountable.

“In this country, even the most powerful person can be held accountable in court. No one, not even a former president, is above the law,” Kaplan said. “Your job is to uphold that basic principle.”

The defense then presented their closing argument.

“We are going to take a journey to justice,” defense attorney Joe Tacopina told the jury.

“What E. Jean Carroll did here was a travesty of justice,” Tacopina said.

He denied that Trump beat or insulted Carroll. “All Donald Trump said was ‘I didn’t do it,'” Tacopina said. “Donald Trump has no story to tell here other than to say it’s a lie.”

Tacopina’s voice rose and fell with anger as she described the challenge Trump faces in court.

“If something is completely made up the only way to defend yourself is by challenging the people who made it and the story itself,” Tacopina said. “He lashes out, rightly or wrongly. It doesn’t make up for the lack of proof in Ms. Carroll’s incredible story.”

After Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, called Trump out for not testifying Tacopina asked “What would I have asked him? Where were you on some unknown date 27 or 28 years ago?”

Carroll has yet to determine the date of the alleged rape, which Tacopina took up in her closing statement.

“And why is there no date on an event as important as this in a person’s life? It’s not a coincidence,” Tacopina said. “With no date, no month, no year you cannot provide an alibi.”

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