Despite Carroll’s claims that Trump had raped her, they noted, the jury stopped short of saying he committed that particular offense. Instead, jurors opted for a second option: sexual abuse.
A judge has now clarified that this is basically a legal distinction without a real-world difference. He says that what the jury found Trump did was in fact rape, as commonly understood.
The filing from Judge Lewis A. Kaplan came as Trump’s attorneys have sought a new trial and have argued that the jury’s $5 million verdict against Trump in the civil suit was excessive. The reason, they argue, is that sexual abuse could be as limited as the “groping” of a victim’s breasts.
Kaplan roundly rejected Trump’s motion Tuesday, calling that argument “entirely unpersuasive.”
“The finding that Ms. Carroll failed to prove that she was ‘raped’ within the meaning of the New York Penal Law does not mean that she failed to prove that Mr. Trump ‘raped’ her as many people commonly understand the word ‘rape,’ ” Kaplan wrote.
He added: “Indeed, as the evidence at trial recounted below makes clear, the jury found that Mr. Trump in fact did exactly that.”
Kaplan said New York’s legal definition of “rape” is “far narrower” than the word is understood in “common modern parlance.”
The former requires forcible, unconsented-to penetration with one’s penis. But he said that the conduct the jury effectively found Trump liable for — forced digital penetration — meets a more common definition of rape. He cited definitions offered by the American Psychological Association and the Justice Department, which in 2012 expanded its definition of rape to include penetration “with any body part or object.”
Ah ja, selvfølgelig.
In the jury´s verdict form, in response to the first question, "Did Ms. Carroll prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that Mr. Trump raped Ms. Carroll," the jury said, "no," but it answered "yes" to the next question posed, about whether he had sexually abused her.
Juryen finder, ordret, sort på hvidt, ikke Trumpe liable for voldtægt, men det er godt vi lige har en dommer der kan fortælle juryen hvad de faktisk har ment, når de har sat kryds ved ´no´ på spørgsmålet om "Did Ms. Carroll prove, by preponderance of the evidence, that Mr. Trump raped Ms. Carroll?".
Jeg ved ikke helt hvad snakker du om,
Hvorfor forholder du dig ikke til din åbenlyst ikke-konsistente holdning til, at en af moderatorernes fornemmeste opgave er at korrigere absurde og falske påstande? Så har de jo tydeligvis fejlet, siden Kamala fik mindst 3 hall-passes.
Jeg troede ellers, at folk ville være interesseret i Andrew McCarthys synspunkt, da han og National Review virker højt anset i de konservative kredse.
Du giver jo normalt pr. automatik ikke en fløjtende fis for konservative kredse, men det er altså ih så interessant nu, nu når du har fundet en åndsfælle?
Trump kan godt have ført en dårlig debat, samtidig med at de omkringliggende omstændigheder har været imod ham - det er ikke to modstridende påstande.
La prende Vecino.