In the latest development in Donald Trump’s mounting legal troubles, the former president will not be able to pursue a new trial in the sexual assault lawsuit brought by author E. Jean Carroll, which saw a Manhattan jury award $5 million to his accuser. 

Judge Lewis Kaplan of the Southern District of New York ruled Wednesday that Mr. Trump cannot seek a new trial, saying the May 9 ruling from a jury of his peers was not a “seriously erroneous result.” The former president argued that the “miscarriage of justice” perpetrated by the jury resulted in the “excessive” awarding of $2 million to Ms. Carroll. 

The jury had also awarded Ms. Carroll $3 million in damages for defamation following Mr. Trump’s comments about Ms. Carroll’s alleged dishonesty and physical appearance. 

Mr. Trump’s legal team filed the motion asking the court to reconsider damages for the sexual abuse charged on June 29. The lawyers argued that because Ms. Carroll failed to prove her original accusation that she had been raped in a dressing room of the upscale Bergdorf Goodman department store in the 1990s, the court must rework the damages Mr. Trump has been ordered to pay: “The Court should order a new trial on damages … because contrary to Plaintiff’s claim of rape, the Jury found that she was not raped but was sexually abused by Defendant during the 1995/1996 Bergdorf Goodman incident.”

“Such abuse could have included groping of Plaintiff’s breasts through clothing, or similar conduct, which is a far cry from rape,” Mr. Trump’s legal team continued. “Therefore, an award of $2 million for such conduct, which admittedly did not cause any diagnosed mental injury to Plaintiff, is grossly excessive under the applicable case law.” Lawyers argued that he should not have to pay more than $868,000 in damages. 

Also on June 29, Judge Kaplan ruled that Ms. Carroll could proceed with a second lawsuit against the former president, once again for charges of defamation. 

The second lawsuit, in which Ms. Carroll is seeking $10 million in damages, arises from comments made by the former president during a CNN Town Hall at New Hampshire shortly after the ruling in the first lawsuit brought by Ms. Carroll. 

During the televised appearance, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked Mr. Trump about the lawsuit, whereupon the former president called Ms. Carroll’s claims “fake” and “made up” despite the jury’s decision. Shortly thereafter, Ms. Carroll brought her second lawsuit, a trial which is now expected to begin in January.