Trump takes first steps to appeal battery, defamation verdict in E. Jean Carroll case

Former President Trump on Thursday filed a Notice of Appeal regarding a jury's verdict in a civil case that held him liable for battery and defamation against writer E. Jean Carroll.

On Tuesday, the jury awarded Carroll a total of $5 million in damages stemming from her claims. Trump attorney Joseph Tacopina indicated at the time that he would appeal the decision.

The Notice of Appeal, which is the first procedural step in appealing a lower court case, was filed to the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Manhattan. Trump’s specific legal arguments may not be filed for months under the rules of that court.

Tacopina had previously sought a mistrial, arguing that Judge Lewis Kaplan had repeatedly made "unfair and prejudicial rulings" against Trump, but Kaplan refused to grant the motion.

Carrol says that Trump raped her in the dressing room of a Bergdorf Goodman department store in the 1990s.

The sexual abuse claims were only possible due to a New York law called the Adult Survivor’s Act that temporarily creates a legal window by which alleged victims of abuse could sue their attackers even if the statute of limitations has passed.

The jury determined that Trump's conduct did not amount to rape, but sexual abuse. Trump continues to deny all of Carroll's claims.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.