Arizona state university.
Geoff: The civil case E Jean
Carroll has brought against
former president Donald Trump is
in the hands of the jury.
Lisa Desjardins has the details
on what comes next.
Lisa: After two weeks in court,
with testimony from Carroll and
a handful of witnesses, lawyers
for both sides presented closing
arguments today as jurors weigh
whether or not to hold former
president trump liable for
sexual assault and defamation.
Carroll, a former columnist, has
accused the president of raping
her over two decades ago.
In the courtroom today was
Andrea Bernstein, a reporter
with propublica who also covers
trump legal matters for NPR.
Can you some of the closing
arguments we heard today?
>> The plaintiff's lawyers
stressed that 11 witnesses
testified that Donald Trump
sometime in the 1990's, forcibly
raped the columnist E Jean
Carroll in the laundry dressing
room.
And after, she was able to
struggle and get away, according
to her account, called a friend,
who the friend recalled in
testimony, she called while she
was feeding her kids dinner.
Than there were a number of
other witnesses who corroborated
parts of Carroll's account.
Her lawyers argued, in order to
not find trump liable, it is a
civil case, the jury would have
to disbelieve all 11 witnesses
D also disbelieve Donald Trump
when from the infamous access
Hollywood tape, he talked about
grabbing winning -- grabbing
women by the genitals and when
you are a star, they let you do
it.
Trump's lawyers said the jurors
should not conclude anything.
They pointed out what they saw
as inconsistencies in E. Jean
Carroll's story and suggested
the incident never happened.
And that in fact, E. Jean
Carroll and the women who
corroborated her account
concocted it in order to hurt
Donald Trump.
Lisa: E. Jean Carroll has
presented witnesses, women she
said she has talked to and women
they say fell into a pattern of
sexual assault from the former
president.
His attorneys deny this and say
this is all concocted, that it
is political.
The product -- the former
president did not appear in
court, but we saw someone from
his deposition.
He was asked interestingly by
the attorneys for Carroll at one
point to look at an archival
photo of a time when he and E.
Jean Carroll were at the same
party.
I want to play what happened
when he, by mistake, did not
recognize his ex-wife.
>> I don't even know who the
woman, let's say, I don't know
who -- that's Marla.
>> You say Marla is in this
photo?
>> Cat is Marla that's my wife.
>> Which woman?
>> Here.
>> The person you just pointed
to was E. Jean Carroll.
Lisa: Later he defended himself
against Carroll and her
attorney.
>> She is accusing me and so are
you of rape, and it never took
place.
I will tell you, I made that
statement and I said, it is
politically incorrect, she is
not my type.
That is 100% true.
She is not my type.
Lisa: Obviously we are in
unprecedented waters.
How do you think that deposition
affected the final arguments
today?
Andrea: It came up several times
as you can imagine.
E. Jean Carroll's lawyers argued
that E. Jean Carroll was exactly
his type.
So much his type, he confused
her from a photo at that time
for his second wife.
The fact that trump did not
testify, Carroll's circled back
to at the end of the trial and
said he never came here to tell
you, the jury, that he did not
do this.
They also argued, referring
again to this access Hollywood
tape, that trump had boasted in
the tape that he did have a
tight.
And that when you are a star,
you let them do it.
Trump's lawyers called that
locker room talk, but Carroll's
lawyers say, we call this a
confession.
Lisa: You mentioned the jury
here, six men and three women.
They have to consider whether
there is a preponderance of
evidence to support E. Jean
Carroll's case.
What does that mean and have you
noticed anything about the jury
while watching them in court?
Andrea: The jury was fairly
expressionist -- expressionless.
But they seemed to attend
carefully.
Trump's lawyer made an
impassioned closing statement,
pointing out what he's -- what
he said as inconsistencies.
At the end of the day, the jury
watched closely Carroll's
lawyers on their rebuttal.
Where he was explaining various
pieces of testimony he said
trump's lawyers had taken out of
context.
There did -- and they did seem
to be attentively listening.
They don't have to find beyond a
reasonable doubt.
There will be no finding of
guilt or innocence.
But they it -- but if they do
find that the preponderance of
the evidence suggest trump did
this and find him criminally
liable, this will be the first
time a jury of trump's peers
have ruled, if you will, on what
these accusers have been saying
since Donald Trump's first
campaign for president in 2016,
that he committed these acts.
This will be the first time it
has gone to a court of law, been
tested, and a jury will find
something.
They could also find that he is
not liable on these counts, and
that could come anytime tomorrow
after the judge instructs them,
which will be first thing in the
morning, and they will have the
case and will be able to
delivery.
Lisa: In the last few seconds we
have, the potential impact here?
We are hocking dollar figures?
Andrea: Yes, we are talking
dollar figures, it could run
well into the millions.
How do you'd describe the front
runner for the GOP if a jury
finds him liable?
That will be something the whole
country will be grappling with,
depending on the verdict in this
case.
Lisa: We all appreciate you
helping us understand it all.
Andrea Bernstein of pro-public,
thank you so much.
Andrea: Thank you.
♪♪