Judge Lewis A. Kaplan on Monday morning walked jurors through a verdict form, explaining what battery meant in the context of a civil lawsuit and that there were gradations of that wrongful act.
He offered three types of battery for which Mr. Trump might be liable under New York law: rape, sexual abuse and forcible touching.
To find that Mr. Trump raped Ms. Carroll, the jurors needed to believe that it was more likely than not that Mr. Trump engaged in sexual intercourse by physical force. The judge explained that “any penetration of the penis into the vaginal opening” constituted intercourse.
To find that Mr. Trump sexually abused Ms. Carroll, the jurors needed to believe that Mr. Trump subjected Ms. Carroll to sexual contact by physical force. Sexual contact is defined as touching the sexual or other intimate parts of another person, Judge Kaplan said.
Forcible touching, the judge said, “includes squeezing, grabbing, pinching, rubbing or other bodily contact that involves the application of some level of pressure to the victim’s sexual or intimate parts.”
The jury ultimately determined that Ms. Carroll had proved that Mr. Trump sexually abused her and that $2 million would “fairly and adequately compensate her.”
Jurors found that Mr. Trump should pay Ms. Carroll $20,000 in punitive damages because his conduct was, as stated in the language of the verdict form, “willfully or wantonly negligent, reckless, or done with a conscious disregard of the rights of Ms. Carroll.”
The jury also awarded damages on her allegations of defamation.
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