The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on Wednesday refused to halt a second trial against Donald Trump over another lawsuit filed against the former president by writer E. Jean Carroll.
A federal jury previously awarded $5 million to Carroll after finding Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation.
Carroll had filed a separate defamation lawsuit against Trump for denying her rape allegations during his presidency in a press conference, but the case was stalled amid appeals over whether Trump was immune from remarks he made to reporters during his presidency.
In September 2022, a three-judge panel of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals initially provided an inclusive answer, punting the question to another appellate court in Washington, D.C. The D.C. Court of Appeals ultimately let a jury decide whether Trump's denial of Carroll's rape accusations to the press was an official action or a wholly personal act of defamation.
In May 2023, a federal jury unanimously found Trump liable for defamation and under the Adult Survivors Act, a New York law extending the statute of limitations for victims of sexual abuse. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who is presiding over both lawsuits, found the jury's verdict conclusive for both cases, leaving no other issues of disputed facts other than the determination for further damages.
As a second damages trial looms, the former president's attorneys Michael Madiao and Alina Habba sought to revisit the immunity question before the Second Circuit's full bench, a maneuver known as an en banc review. The attorneys sought to pause the second trial until the 13-judge panel could reassess the question.
"Given the urgency of the circumstance, the irreparable harm to President Trump, and the public’s interest in obtaining a final resolution on the important issues that lie at the heart of this appeal, the trial must be stayed pending resolution of this petition," Madiao and Habba wrote.
Trump's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and neither did Habba.
The second trial is slated to begin later this month on Jan. 16, 2024.