NEW YORK — E. Jean Carroll’s accusation that Donald Trump raped her was not a “he said, she said” dispute, a lawyer representing the writer told jurors on Tuesday (April 25) as a civil trial over the former US president’s conduct nearly three decades ago got under way.
Shawn Crowley, who represents the former Elle magazine advice columnist, said in her opening statement that Trump “slammed Ms. Carroll against the wall” and “pressed his lips to hers,” an account other witnesses were prepared to verify.
“This is not a ‘he said, she said’ case,” Crowley said in federal court in Manhattan. She told jurors they would also hear testimony from two other women who say Trump sexually assaulted them, which Trump denies.
Trump’s lawyer Joe Tacopina countered in his opening statement that the evidence will show the former US president did not assault Carroll.
Carroll said Trump then “manoeuvred” her into a dressing room where he shut the door, forced her against a wall, pulled down her tights and penetrated her. She said she broke free after two to three minutes.
Her witness list includes two friends in whom she said she confided after the attack, author Lisa Birnbach and former news anchor Carol Martin.
The two other women who may testify that Trump sexually assaulted them are Jessica Leeds, who has said Trump groped her while seated beside her on a 1979 flight, and Natasha Stoynoff, who said Trump attacked her in 2005 at his Florida mansion where she planned to interview him and his wife Melania.
Jurors are also expected to hear a 2005 “Access Hollywood” tape on which Trump made graphic, vulgar comments about women.
Trump’s lawyers may try to undermine Carroll’s credibility by noting that she did not call the police, remained publicly silent for more than two decades and cannot remember the day or month of her alleged attack.
Carroll is also suing Trump for defamation after he first denied her rape claim in June 2019, when he was still president. That case remains pending before Kaplan.
This article was first published in Asia One . All contents and images are copyright to their respective owners and sources.
