In brief
The United States Supreme Court has refused a second appeal from former President Donald Trump against a federal civil jury verdict that ruled he sexually assaulted and defamed writer E Jean Carroll. Trump’s lawyers argued that the trial judge improperly admitted evidence, including the infamous Access Hollywood footage, that could bias jurors. Carroll, who sued in 2023, won damages of more than $5 m after the jury awarded her $83 m in defamation damages. The court’s brief ruling leaves the verdict—and the damages—final and unchallengeable. Legal experts note that Trump’s attempt to re‑open the June rejection is a rare mid‑court move rarely granted by the justices.
For the second time, the U.S. Supreme Court has declined to consider former President Donald Trump’s appeal to overturn a federal civil jury verdict that found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming writer E Jean Carroll.
Trump’s lawyers had already petitioned the Court in June, but the high court again refused to revisit the case.
In the original lawsuit, Trump denied all wrongdoing and argued that the judge who oversaw the civil trial improperly allowed certain evidence—most notably the 2005 Access Hollywood clip that depicted Trump using coarse language to describe women—to influence the jury’s perception of him.
In July, Trump paid Carroll more than $5 m in damages for her sexual‑abuse claim and later declared in a Truth Social post that the incident was a hoax.
“We are pleased that the Supreme Court has declined again to hear this case,” Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, said in a statement. “The jury’s unanimous verdict that Donald Trump sexually assaulted and then defamed E Jean Carroll is now final and cannot be challenged in any court.”
The Court’s decision appeared in an order list on Monday, but it offered no explanation for its refusal to rehear the case.
Legal experts note that Trump’s request to reconsider the June rejection was a rare legal gambit, as the Court rarely grants such long‑shot appeals.
Carroll, now 82, sued Trump for an alleged assault that took place in a Manhattan department‑store dressing room in the mid‑1990s. The defamation claim stemmed from a 2022 post on Truth Social in which Trump denied the allegations and called Carroll “not my type.”
Trump has not yet commented on the Court’s latest decision, but in a lengthy Truth Social post he urged that the case be seen as a “weaponisation and law‑fare” tactic and vowed it would never be allowed against another President or candidate.
In the Supreme Court petition, Trump's lawyers contended that Carroll’s counsel should have barred jurors from viewing the famous 2005 clip. That same court found Trump liable in a separate jury, with the judges ultimately refusing his appeal in September.
