Jury deliberations in the E. Jean Carroll civil lawsuit against former President Donald Trump are set to begin on Tuesday -- but just what will it take for jurors to render a verdict against the former president?
A newly published analysis piece at CNN notes that a civil trial has much different rules compared to a criminal trial, as Carroll's lawyers do not need to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump committed rape.
Instead, jurors will only have to decide whether the preponderance of evidence shows that Trump knowingly made false accusations against Carroll when denying her accusations.
In a separate analysis piece, Politico breaks down some of the most important questions that jurors will have to answer before rendering a verdict on Trump.
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First, they have to assess Carroll's own credibility, which came under attack repeatedly from Trump attorney Joe Tacopina over her inability to name a specific date where the alleged rape by Trump took place.
However, CNN notes, Carroll's testimony has also been bolstered by two friends who said she told them of the attack shortly after it occurred.
The second key question that will have to be answered is whether Trump's infamous "Access Hollywood" tape, in which he bragged about being able to sexually assault women, is real evidence or is simply "locker room talk."
During the trial, Carroll attorney Roberta Kaplan used the tape as evidence for how Trump believes he can abuse women at will without facing any consequences.
"What is Donald Trump doing here? Telling you in his very own words how he treats women,” she explained. "It’s his modus operandi."
Tacopina, for his part, tried to downplay the relevance of Trump's comments, even though he admitted that "I’d knock my boy’s teeth out if he talked like that, honestly."
Additionally, writes Politico, jurors will have to consider whether Trump's decision to blow off a chance to publicly testify in the case is evidence against him.
In particular, Kaplan has repeatedly said that Trump's unwillingness to face live questioning before jurors shows that he lacks confidence in his innocence.
"He didn’t even bother to show up here in person," she said.
