Donald Trump’s lawyer, Alina Habba, told the court that her client plans to testify in the trial, but requested that he be called to the stand on Wednesday.
Habba said:
Tomorrow is the New Hampshire primary and he needs to be in New Hampshire ... He was planning to testify … I would just need his testimony to be Wednesday in light of the news about the jury today.
Judge Kaplan said he was not going to decide right now whether there will be an adjournment.
Before confirming that the trial would be postponed until Tuesday, Judge Lewis Kaplan said:
The juror in seat no. 3 reported to Andy early this morning that he was on the way to the city but feeling hot and nauseous, so I sent him home for the day with instructions to get a Covid test and report back. The rest of the jury is here. It was reported to me that Ms Habba reported to Andy that she was not feeling well. You said, Ms Habba that one or both of your parents had Covid, is that right?
Alina Habba:
Yes, your honor.
Asked what contact she had with her parents in the last five days, Habba said she had dinner with them a few days ago, for a few hours.
Kaplan said they both took Covid tests and were negative. Nobody at the defense table is wearing a mask
Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, said:
We’re prepared and would like to proceed.
Habba asked for the trial to be on pause as she wanted the full panel. The judge agreed postponement until tomorrow:
We will continue the trial until tomorrow morning at 9:30.
Trial postponed until tomorrow
Judge Lewis Kaplan has postponed the trial until Tuesday, after one juror reported feeling ill, and one of Trump’s lawyers, Alina Habba, said at least one of her parents had tested positive for Covid-19.
Both Trump and Carroll were in the courtroom when the cancellation was announced.
“I’m here because Donald Trump assaulted me, and when I wrote about it, he said it never happened,” E Jean Carroll testified last week.
He lied, and it shattered my reputation.
During her testimony, Carroll explained the chain of events that unfolded after an excerpt from her book detailing the rape incident ran in New York magazine in 2019. Carroll said she had never told anyone publicly about the incident.
Carroll said she expected Trump to respond, but not in the way that he did. Her testimony detailed how Trump’s denials – which took place while he was still president, giving him the world’s most prominent platform – not only destroyed her reputation, but spurred a deluge of online hate and threats against her.
She described the barrage of threats received in the years since Trump’s comments, and the methods she has taken to protect herself at her home in upstate New York.
Much of Carroll’s testimony detailed Trump’s continuing to make statements about her after he was found liable of sexual abuse and defamation. This relates to jurors’ decision on damages, as they must determine a sum that would deter him from making similar statements.
E Jean Carroll took the witness stand at the Manhattan federal court last Wednesday, marking the first time she had confronted Donald Trump in the courtroom.
Carroll said Trump raped her almost three decades ago, in the changing room of an upscale Manhattan department store. She came forward with her account in 2019 when an excerpt from her book, What Do We Need Men For? A Modest Proposal, ran in New York magazine.
Trump, who was in the White House when Carroll’s claim surfaced, quickly attacked, saying: “I’ve never met this person in my life. She is trying to sell a new book – that should indicate her motivation. It should be sold in the fiction section.” Carroll sued him in 2019, maintaining that Trump’s denials smeared her reputation, sparking online abuse and serious threats.
Carroll was initially not able to sue Trump for sexual assault, because the incident fell outside the civil statute of limitations. But in 2022, New York state’s Adult Survivors Act gave adult victims of sexual misconduct a one-year window to sue their alleged abusers for incidents outside this statute of limitations.
Carroll sued Trump once again, this time citing sexual assault and defamation claims for statements Trump made when he was no longer president. Judge Kaplan has determined the key facts in that case would be accepted in this second trial – Trump cannot relitigate Carroll’s rape claim.
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As we wait impatiently for proceedings to kick off, a little bit of color from outside.
Donald Trump’s motorcade arrived to the downtown Manhattan federal courthouse just before 9am.
Across from the courthouse, a handful of protesters were gathered, toting signs such as: “TRUMP IS THE BIGGEST LOSER” and “CRYBABY RAPIST LOSER.”
Good morning from Manhattan federal court. Protesters are outside as E Jean Carroll's defamation trial against Donald Trump resumes pic.twitter.com/OkITHpYVbI
— Victoria Bekiempis (@vicbekiempis) January 22, 2024
Trump arrives at New York courthouse for E Jean Carroll defamation trial
Good morning and welcome to our continuing coverage of E Jean Carroll’s defamation trial against Donald Trump, where the pair could face off today once again in the Manhattan federal court.
Trump’s motorcade arrived to the courthouse just before 9am ET, where he could be called to the stand to testify just hours before voting commences in the New Hampshire primary.
The former president attended the Manhattan federal court proceedings two days last week including on Wednesday, when the former Elle writer described how his 2019 denials of her rape claim smeared her reputation. Carroll’s testimony marked the first time she confronted him in a courtroom.
Trump’s reaction to Carroll’s testimony was characterized by repeated outbursts, spurring judge Lewis Kaplan to warn that the ex-president would be booted from court if he refused to behave.
This ongoing trial marks Carroll’s second defamation trial against Trump. A jury in May found the former US president liable of sexual abuse and defamation, voting to award Carroll $5m in damages.
Carroll is suing Trump over his June 2019 denials of her rape claim against him. This trial will determine damages.
The trial is expected to get under way at about 9.30am Eastern time.
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