Should Donald Trump be unsuccessful in appealing his recent courtroom loss to E. Jean Carroll where he was found liable for sexual assault and defamation, a second lawsuit she filed against him that is still pending could end with the judge issuing jury instructions that could seal the deal for another courtroom loss for the former president.
Writing at Above the Law, attorney Mark Herrmann pointed out that another case from Carroll and her attorney Roberta Kaplan is still alive and that Trump's conviction in the recently resolved case could take center stage.
As Herrmann notes, the still open case was remanded back to Judge Lewis Kaplan for additional fact-finding over whether Trump was acting as a government employee when he allegedly defamed Carroll -- which is separate from the defamation case just decided about comments he made after leaving office.
If Trump loses his appeal on the settled case his lawyers can't relitigate the accusations of sexual assault which could play a big part in the new trial unless Trump settles beforehand.
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As Herrmann explained, "The judgment at the recent trial (unless reversed on appeal) will be binding, as collateral estoppel, when that second case is tried. (When a court decides an issue between two parties, that decision is generally binding; neither party can relitigate it.)"
"Thus, at the next trial, the judge will tell the jury, more or less: 'I instruct you that Donald Trump committed sexual battery on E. Jean Carroll. You do not have to think about that issue. That has already been decided, and it is a fact. In this case, you must decide only whether Donald Trump’s statements while he was president defamed E. Jean Carroll,'" he predicted before suggesting, "If you thought that defending the recent case against Trump was hard, just imagine the trouble someone would have trying to defend the next case."
He then predicted, "That second case will either be settled or E. Jean Carroll will win at trial, perhaps years from now when that case approaches trial."
You can read his whole piece here.
