As former president Donald J Trump makes his way through the 2024 election cycle, these setbacks seem to hinder his chances. Tuesday, May 9, a New York jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing writer E. Jean Carroll in a department store in the 1900s. However, the jury did not find him liable for her alleged rape. Carroll received $5 million dollars in damages as a result of the case.

Out of the several sexual accusations Trump has received in the past years, Carroll’s case appears as the first case to receive attention from a jury. The federal jury of six men and three women found that Carroll had adequately proved that Trump sexually abused her nearly 30 years ago in a Bergdorf Goodman fitting room in 1996.

Carroll intended to keep the incident a secret but felt the need to come forward and tell what happened. Carroll brought attention to her lawsuit after last year when New York State enacted a new law that granted adult sexual abuse victims one year to sue people they say abused them. Carroll and 10 other witnesses called on her behalf, testified during the two-week trial. The jury found that Trump slandered Caroll in October when he posted a statement on his Truth Social platform where he called her case a complete con job and a hoax and a lie. 

Even after the trial, Trump decided to take the incident to social media and claimed he did not even know Carroll and called the verdict a disgrace in a Truth Social post.  Although Trump’s lawyers said he intended to appeal to court, he never appealed at the trial to hear Carroll. Trump’s lawyer defended his failure to appeal along with his decision to not testify. 

“I filed this lawsuit against Donald Trump to clear my name and to get my life back. Today, the world finally knows the truth. This victory is not just for me but for every woman who has suffered because she was not believed,” Carroll said.

Judge Lewis Kaplan explained the three options for finding Trump liable: he raped her, sexually abused her or forcibly touched her. The judge explained a unanimous vote would affirm that Carroll had claimed it true that Trump had committed an offense.

“I didn’t know about this case until a few days ago. If people knew about it earlier, I’m sure they wouldn’t have even given Trump the time of day in past elections. What is even scarier is the fact that this is one of the only accusations that have made it through trial but I know more exist. I’m glad that this lady is in the process of receiving justice and I hope Trump is appropriately charged for his crimes,” NC Junior Joel-Caleb Warui said.