Donald Trump Sexually Abused and Defamed E. Jean Carroll, Jury Finds

On Tuesday, Ms. Carroll nodded along as a court clerk read the verdict aloud, her nod growing more pronounced as the clerk said Mr. Trump was liable for defamation. She walked out of the courthouse grinning from ear to ear, holding hands with her lawyer, Roberta A. Kaplan. A woman yelled to Ms. Carroll, “You’re so brave and beautiful.” Ms. Carroll replied, “Thank you, thank you so much.”

In a later statement, she said: “I filed this lawsuit against Donald Trump to clear my name and to get my life back. Today, the world finally knows the truth. This victory is not just for me but for every woman who has suffered because she was not believed.”

For decades, Mr. Trump had reveled in projecting the image of a man irresistible to women, engineering tabloid headlines like “Best Sex I’ve Ever Had,” appearing in the introduction of a 1999 Playboy magazine centerfold video and bragging in an exchange caught on video about how, as a celebrity, he could grab women’s genitals with impunity. Now the jury has labeled him not a Lothario but an abuser.

Its unanimous verdict came after just under three hours of deliberation. The findings are civil, not criminal, meaning Mr. Trump has not been convicted of any crime and faces no prison time.