Court Denies Delay of Trump Immunity Case in Carroll Lawsuit
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York has rejected former President Trump's request to halt author E. Jean Carroll's defamation case against him while the Supreme Court reviews his immunity claim.
The single-page denial follows the Second Circuit's recent ruling that Trump cannot assert presidential immunity in Carroll's case.
Appeals court denies case delay over Trump immunity claim in E. Jean Carroll suit https://t.co/Cn44LniliP pic.twitter.com/aaYXxTxyQs
— The Hill (@thehill) December 28, 2023
Trump's legal team sought a 90-day pause, arguing that denying this right would disrupt the longstanding rule that lower courts lose jurisdiction during an immunity-related appeal.
In the previous decision, the Second Circuit determined that Trump had already waived immunity by not asserting it in 2019.
Carroll accused the former president of raping her in a New York department store in the mid-1990s, a charge Trump has consistently denied.
In 2019, she filed a lawsuit, resulting in a jury finding Trump liable for sexual assault, battery, and defamation in May, awarding her $5 million.
The jury did not find sufficient evidence to support the rape allegation. Carroll subsequently filed a second defamation lawsuit, with a federal judge already holding Trump liable.
A trial to determine damages is scheduled to commence on January 16.
In June, Trump countersued Carroll for persistently claiming he raped her after the initial verdict, but Judge Lewis Kaplan, presiding over both cases, dismissed the counterclaim in August.
Special Counsel Jack Smith has petitioned the Supreme Court to decide on Trump's immunity claim in federal charges related to his attempts to overturn the 2020 election results.
Despite Trump's criticisms of Smith, his lawyers referenced Smith's characterization of the immunity question as "weighty and consequential" in the motion. The case adds to lengthy legal battles against the former president that include cases in New York, Georgia, Florida, and Washington ahead of his comeback bid for president.
