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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhy did Chris Hayes say alleged crime while talking about
The EJean Carroll case earlier tonight?
Its way past alleged
Celerity
(43,497 posts)elleng
(131,100 posts)But 'timing' may have been at issue.
Ocelot II
(115,836 posts)Ocelot II
(115,836 posts)He was found liable for the tort of sexual assault but not guilty of the crime. Big difference.
malaise
(269,157 posts)I dont get it but I am not a lawyer
Ms. Toad
(34,087 posts)Trump was found liable for sexual assault but not for rape, because the crime of rape required penile penetration and E. Jean Carroll could not say, with certainty, what he penetrated her with.
The judge said that while the jury found him not liable for rape because Carroll couldn't prove he committed penile penetration, the common understanding of the term rape (not the criminal one) included the offense the jury found him liable for - so Carroll's statement was substantially true (and therefore not defamation).
Ocelot II
(115,836 posts)requires penetration with a penis; any other kind of penetration is defined as sexual assault. Since Carroll wasn't sure what he penetrated her with, the jury found him civilly liable (but not criminally guilty because it was a civil case), of sexual assault, not rape. But the judge later said that the common understanding of what constitutes rape includes all kinds of penetration:
The filing from Judge Lewis A. Kaplan came as Trumps attorneys have sought a new trial and have argued that the jurys $5 million verdict against Trump in the civil suit was excessive. The reason, they argue, is that sexual abuse could be as limited as the groping of a victims breasts.
Kaplan roundly rejected Trumps motion Tuesday, calling that argument entirely unpersuasive.
The finding that Ms. Carroll failed to prove that she was raped within the meaning of the New York Penal Law does not mean that she failed to prove that Mr. Trump raped her as many people commonly understand the word rape, Kaplan wrote. He added: Indeed, as the evidence at trial recounted below makes clear, the jury found that Mr. Trump in fact did exactly that.