美国国家公共电台 NPR--Closing arguments are set to begin in E. Jean Carroll's civil case against Trump

Closing arguments are set to begin in E. Jean Carroll's civil case against Trump¹

Transcript²

Former President Donald Trump will not testify at the civil trial where longtime advice columnist³ E. Jean Carroll accuses him of raping⁴ her in a luxury department store dressing⁵ room in 1996.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Writer E. Jean Carroll says that former President Donald Trump sexually assaulted her in the changing room of an upscale Manhattan department store about 28 years ago.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

And for the past week, her lawyers have been presenting evidence of the alleged⁶ rape⁷ and defamation⁸ to a jury. Today, both sides have the chance to make their closing arguments in the civil case.

MARTIN: NPR's Ilya Marritz has been watching. And he's with us now to tell us more. Good morning.

ILYA MARRITZ, BYLINE⁹: Good morning.

MARTIN: Before we get into the closing arguments, can you just remind us of what are the key elements of the case?

MARRITZ: Well, there's a lot that this case does not have. There is no video evidence, no DNA¹⁰, no direct witnesses besides E. Jean Carroll herself, the plaintiff. So her lawyers have tried to bolster¹¹ her account with other kinds of witnesses and evidence. They've presented two friends of Carroll's who each said she told them about the assault right after it happened. The jury also heard from two other women who also testified saying they were assaulted by Trump as well. And Carroll's team has showed excerpts¹² from a video deposition¹³ of Trump. If you remember, after Carroll's allegation first broke a few years ago, Trump dismissed it, saying, quote, "she's not my type." Listen closely to what Trump says when he's shown a party photo of himself with E. Jean Carroll and is asked to identify her. He doesn't know who she is.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

DONALD TRUMP: I don't even know who the woman - let's see. I don't know who - it's Marla.

ROBERTA KAPLAN: You're saying Marla's in this photo?

TRUMP: That's Marla, yeah. That's my wife.

KAPLAN: Which woman are you pointing to?

TRUMP: Here.

ALINA HABBA: No, that's Carroll.

TRUMP: Oh, is that - oh, OK.

KAPLAN: The person you just pointed¹⁴ to is E. Jean Carroll.

TRUMP: Oh, I see. Who is that? Who is this?

MARRITZ: So we just heard him mistake his accuser for his second wife, Marla Maples¹⁵. Perhaps that calls into question his statement that he didn't find Carroll attractive.

MARTIN: So using Trump's words against him. But Trump's team tried to do the same thing with E. Jean Carroll. Tell us about that.

MARRITZ: That's right. In cross-examination, Trump's lawyer pointed out inconsistencies in things Carroll has said over the years about the alleged rape and the effect it had on her. They also pointed out Carroll can't recall what year it happened. But what was really striking was their portrayal¹⁶ of Carroll as a shady character. Trump lawyer Joseph Tacopina said Carroll was motivated by money and publicity¹⁷. He told jurors they cannot let her profit from her abuse of this process and warned that she would try to deceive them.

MARTIN: So Donald Trump did not attend the trial, but he commented on it all through the week. How did the judge respond to that?

MARRITZ: It played really badly with the judge. Right at the start of the trial, Judge Lewis Kaplan warned both teams that their clients and witnesses should not talk in the media and should particularly avoid words that are likely to incite¹⁸ violence or civil unrest. Trump flouted¹⁹ these instructions again and again. He posted to social media. He talked to reporters on camera. His lawyers basically said, hey, what can we do? He's Donald Trump. Over the weekend, Carroll's attorneys complained to the judge, saying Trump had not taken down two social media posts despite his lawyer's pledge that he would. The danger here is that the jury could see some of this stuff and be influenced by it. So far, though, there have been no consequences.

MARTIN: So what can we expect for the rest of the day?

MARRITZ: We expect closing arguments to take up most of the day. Then the judge will give the jury its instructions, and they will begin to deliberate. Remember, this is civil not criminal court. So the standard of evidence for the assault allegation is preponderance of evidence, which is a lot less than for a criminal case, where it's beyond a reasonable doubt. The potential damages here, if Trump is found liable, could run well into the millions of dollars. Both sides have so much riding on the jurors' decision. For all the legal hazards Trump faces at this moment, this one is in some ways the most personal. And if he is held liable for battery - and that's the legal term in this case - it'll be a kind of vindication²⁰ not only for Carroll but for the many women who've accused Trump of sexual misconduct over the years.

MARTIN: That is NPR's Ilya Marritz. Ilya, thank you so much.

MARRITZ: You're very welcome.

(SOUNDBITE OF BAEGEL'S "WATCH YOUR BACK")

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 columnist   

n.专栏作家

参考例句：

• The host was interviewing a local columnist.节目主持人正在同一位当地的专栏作家交谈。
• She's a columnist for USA Today.她是《今日美国报》的专栏作家。

4 raping   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的现在分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• In response, Charles VI sent a punitive expedition to Brittany, raping and killing the populace. 作为报复，查理六世派军讨伐布列塔尼，奸淫杀戮平民。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The conquerors marched on, burning, killing, raping and plundering as they went. 征服者所到之处烧杀奸掠，无所不做。 来自互联网

5 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。

6 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

7 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

8 defamation   

n.诽谤；中伤

参考例句：

• Character defamation can be either oral or written.人格诽谤既可以是口头的也可以是书面的。
• The company sued for defamation.这个公司因受到诽谤而提起诉讼。

9 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

10 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

11 bolster   

n.枕垫；v.支持，鼓励

参考例句：

• The high interest rates helped to bolster up the economy.高利率使经济更稳健。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

12 excerpts   

n.摘录，摘要( excerpt的名词复数 )；节选（音乐，电影）片段

参考例句：

• Some excerpts from a Renaissance mass are spatchcocked into Gluck's pallid Don Juan music. 一些文艺复光时期的弥撒的选节被不适当地加入到了格鲁克平淡无味的唐璜音乐中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is editing together excerpts of some of his films. 他正在将自己制作的一些电影的片断进行剪辑合成。 来自辞典例句

13 deposition   

n.免职，罢官；作证；沉淀；沉淀物

参考例句：

• It was this issue which led to the deposition of the king.正是这件事导致了国王被废黜。
• This leads to calcium deposition in the blood-vessels.这导致钙在血管中沉积。

14 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

15 maples   

槭树，枫树( maple的名词复数 )； 槭木

参考例句：

• There are many maples in the park. 公园里有好多枫树。
• The wind of the autumn colour the maples carmine . 秋风给枫林涂抹胭红。

16 portrayal   

n.饰演；描画

参考例句：

• His novel is a vivid portrayal of life in a mining community.他的小说生动地描绘了矿区的生活。
• The portrayal of the characters in the novel is lifelike.该书中的人物写得有血有肉。

17 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

18 incite   

v.引起，激动，煽动

参考例句：

• I wanted to point out he was a very good speaker, and could incite a crowd.我想说明他曾是一个非常出色的演讲家，非常会调动群众的情绪。
• Just a few words will incite him into action.他只需几句话一将，就会干。

19 flouted   

v.藐视，轻视( flout的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• North Vietnam flouted the accords from the day they were signed. 北越从签字那天起就无视协定的存在。 来自辞典例句
• They flouted all our offers of help and friendship. 他们对我们愿意提供的所有帮助和友谊表示藐视。 来自辞典例句

20 vindication   

n.洗冤，证实

参考例句：

• There is much to be said in vindication of his claim.有很多理由可以提出来为他的要求作辩护。
• The result was a vindication of all our efforts.这一结果表明我们的一切努力是必要的。