E. Jean Carroll leaves the courthouse on Sept. 6, 2024 in New York City. Both parties appear in court today as President Donald Trump's lawyers fight to overturn the jury's finding that he sexually abused E. Jean Carroll. (Alex Kent/Getty Images)
Two Trump-appointed judges on the appellate court dissented and said they would have granted Trump's request and reconsidered the verdict.
The pair of judges said the Access Hollywood tape, in which Trump lewdly spoke about making passes at women, did not offer relevant context in relation to Carroll’s claims. The tape functioned as "propensity evidence," which is typically inadmissible in court, the judges said.
"If the panel opinion remains a precedent of our court, a future plaintiff or the government will be able to introduce evidence of prior conduct in which a defendant went on a mundane outing and sometime thereafter made a sexual advance," they wrote in their dissent.
E. Jean Carroll is seen outside the State Supreme Court on March 4, 2020 in New York. (Alec Tabak for New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
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The appellate court's decision on Friday relates to a lawsuit Carroll brought in 2022, in which a jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation and awarded Carroll $5 million. The jury also found Trump did not rape Carroll, as Carroll had alleged.
Carroll brought a second lawsuit right after her book release, alleging Trump defamed her in the aftermath of the book being published. A jury in that lawsuit awarded Carroll $83 million. Trump is also appealing that decision.
Ashley Oliver is a reporter for Fox News Digital and FOX Business, covering the Justice Department and legal affairs. Email story tips to ashley.oliver@fox.com.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/appeals-court-deals-trump-blow-challenge-e-jean-carroll-verdict