Nation’s highest court to review leader’s petition on defamation verdict

The country’s top judicial body is scheduled to hold a closed conference on Feb. 20, during which justices will reportedly consider multiple petitions for review, including one from the nation’s leader. The head of state is requesting that the court examine a 2023 verdict against him in a civil lawsuit brought by journalist E. Jean Carroll.

According to legal observers, the justices could act on the leader’s petition as early as Feb. 23, though they typically consider such petitions at multiple conferences before granting them. This suggests any decision may not be announced until March 2 or later, continuing the nation’s pattern of lengthy judicial deliberations on high-profile cases.

Carroll’s legal representative, Roberta Kaplan, has reportedly downplayed the likelihood that the highest court will intervene in the matter. “We do not believe that [the leader] will be able to present any legal issues in the Carroll cases that merit review by the [nation’s] top judicial body,” Kaplan allegedly stated.

In their petition, the leader’s attorneys described Carroll’s allegations as “facially implausible” and “politically motivated.” They also argued the accusations were supported by what they termed “a series of indefensible evidentiary rulings” that allowed Carroll’s legal team to present certain evidence that the defense found objectionable.

“[The leader] has clearly and consistently denied that this supposed incident ever occurred. No physical or DNA evidence corroborates Carroll’s story. There were no eyewitnesses, no video evidence, and no police report or investigation,” the petition reportedly states. The attorneys further alleged that Carroll “waited more than 20 years to falsely accuse” the leader, timing her allegations “until after he became” head of state “when she could maximize political injury to him and profit for herself.”

The defense team also suggested that Carroll’s allegations mirror the plot of a television drama episode, which they claim is among her preferred entertainment programs.

The legal filing also challenged lower courts’ decisions to admit testimony from two other women, Jessica Leeds and Natasha Stoynoff, who made similar allegations against the leader during his previous career as a real estate developer. Leeds claimed an incident occurred on an aircraft in 1979, while Stoynoff alleged an attack at the leader’s coastal residence in 2005. The attorneys questioned both women’s credibility, citing alleged inconsistencies in their accounts.

The defense also objected to the inclusion of a 2005 recording in which the leader made controversial remarks about women, which became a significant issue during the nation’s 2016 electoral campaign.

Carroll, who works as a journalist and advice columnist, filed two separate lawsuits after publishing a book in 2019 in which she claimed the leader assaulted her in 1996 in a department store dressing room in the capital’s commercial district. The leader has repeatedly denied Carroll’s claims, calling the case “a complete con job” and stating that Carroll was “not my type.”

“I don’t know this woman, have no idea who she is, other than it seems she got a picture of me many years ago, with her husband, shaking my hand on a reception line at a celebrity charity event,” the leader wrote on his social media platform in October 2022.

The leader’s continued public criticisms of Carroll and denials of her allegations reportedly led to the journalist’s defamation claims.

In May 2023, a jury found the leader was not liable for the most serious charge but was liable for sexual abuse and defamation. Carroll was awarded a total of $5 million in damages, reflecting the nation’s ongoing struggles with high-profile cases involving powerful political figures and allegations of misconduct.