Donald Trump seeks to raise rape accuser’s sexual history at trial
- E. Jean Carroll has accused Donald Trump of raping her in a department store dressing room in the 1990s
- Lawyer for the former US president signals Trump won’t attend civil trial, which is set to start on April 25
The New York author who claims Donald Trump raped her in the 1990s said she found out he intends to submit evidence at trial regarding her “sexual predisposition” in violation of court rules, while the former president signalled he won’t be there in person.
E. Jean Carroll’s lawyers learned last week that Trump’s legal team plans to show the jury excerpts of her deposition that would “squarely” break rules against introducing evidence that’s intended to “prove that a victim engaged in other sexual behaviour” or to show their “sexual predisposition,” Carroll’s lawyer Roberta Kaplan said in a filing Wednesday in Manhattan federal court.
Kaplan filed details of the disputed evidence separately under seal. The federal rules of evidence are intended to prevent “embarrassment for victims of sexual assault or otherwise publicly reinforce offensive sexual stereotypes about them,” Kaplan wrote.
Both Carroll and Trump are making last-minute preparations for a rare trial that’s set to start April 25.
The former president sent a letter to the judge earlier Wednesday asking the court to give the jury a special instruction that Trump was “excused” from attending in order to avoid disruption, so the jury won’t think negatively of his absence.
Trump wants to attend, his lawyer said, but the “logistical and financial burdens on New York” would be significant.