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U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan said the civil
trial, where the former Elle magazine columnist is seeking at
least $10 million in damages, will began on Jan. 15, 2024,
"unless this case has previously been entirely disposed of."
The timetable raises the prospect that Trump might have to
defend himself in three trials early next year as he seeks the
2024 Republican presidential nomination, where he is now the
front-runner.
Trump has been criminally charged by federal prosecutors in
Florida with mishandling classified documents, and by
Manhattan's district attorney with covering up hush money
payments to a porn star. He has pleaded not guilty in both
cases.
Carroll's lawyer Roberta Kaplan, who is not related to the
judge, said her client looks forward to moving expeditiously on
her claims.
A lawyer for Trump and a spokeswoman did not immediately respond
to requests for comment.
Carroll claims that Trump defamed her in June 2019 when he
denied having raped her in the mid-1990s in a Bergdorf Goodman
department store dressing room in Manhattan, and said she was
not his "type."
Last month, a Manhattan jury ordered Trump to pay Carroll $5
million for defamation and sexual assault in a separate lawsuit,
after he made a similar denial in October 2022.
On Tuesday, Judge Kaplan allowed Carroll to amend her lawsuit
over Trump's 2019 comments to include similar comments he made
recently on CNN.
In a town hall the day after the $5 million verdict, Trump
called Carroll's account "fake" and labeled her a "whack job."
The case is Carroll v. Trump, U.S. District Court, Southern
District of New York, No. 20-07311.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; editing by Jonathan
Oatis)
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