Judgment on him Donald Trump starts today at New York Courts with former American journalist E. Jean Carroll, accuse a former US president of raping her in the 1990s.

The trial, which Trump will almost certainly not attend, will begin in federal civil court in Manhattan after a jury is selected to determine the amount of damages potentially to be awarded to the former Elle magazine columnist, who is now 79.

It’s a delicate legal case – about alleged defamation amid rape allegations – that has since 2019 pitted Carroll against Trump, a billionaire former president who has been surrounded by lawsuits, including an unprecedented lawsuit since April against the former president, who has been indicted in New York. York. on 34 counts of accounting and financial fraud.

Carol accuses Trump of raping her in a New York department store fitting room in 1995 or 1996.

Deciding in November 2019 to take civil defamation claims, she then filed a lawsuit against Trump because in June of that year he called her rape allegations “complete lies.”

The then Republican president consistently responded that Carol was “not the kind of woman he prefers,” and his lawyers argued in 2019 that their client was protected by head of state immunity.

Regarding the rape allegations, Carol was unable to file a lawsuit in 2019 because the alleged crime was overdue.

However, on November 24, 2022, her state law went into effect. NY (“Adult Victims Act”), which allows victims of sexual assault to appeal to civil courts within one year.

As such, Carol filed a new civil suit in New York in November for “defamation” as well as “assault” and sought a lawsuit for damages, with her lawyers accusing Trump in the lawsuit of “caressing her”. , tamed her and raped her.”

The civil process, which could take from one to two weeks, was supposed to start on April 10, but has been postponed until today.

The two protagonists submitted their affidavits in October.

Donald Trump remains on the same line of defense, according to his video-conferencing testimony released by the court in January.

With information from APE-MPE and AFP