708
submitted 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) by Varyk@sh.itjust.works to c/til@lemmy.world

All the news headlines and verdict said sexual abuse, which was kind of vague, but I just found out today that the judge clarified that this was a matter of legal definition and by the verdict of the trial and the case, trump has been found guilty of penetrative rape.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] fubo@lemmy.world 214 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

"Found guilty" is inaccurate, since he was not charged with it as a crime. Rather, it was a finding of fact in a civil case. The standards of evidence are different, and a criminal prosecution would still have to prove the charge to a higher standard. But for purposes of civil liability, yeah, he did it.

[-] Varyk@sh.itjust.works 48 points 9 months ago

I thought about that, but since guilty isn't only a legal term and commonly implies responsibility for wrongdoing in general and the judge is clarifying trump is responsible for raping carroll regardless of the legal term used, naming his guilt is appropriate and perfectly accurate.

[-] fubo@lemmy.world 75 points 9 months ago

He is guilty in the ordinary sense. But "found guilty" is technical vocabulary for criminal courts.

[-] sic_1@feddit.de 3 points 9 months ago

Why is he not in jail then? Crimes like these shouldn't be possible to change with a fine or whatever.

[-] prole@sh.itjust.works 41 points 9 months ago

Because, again, he wasn't convicted in criminal court. And again, there is a different burden of proof in civil cases (preponderance of evidence vs. "Beyond a reasonable doubt."). There are many reasons why a case may be brought in civil court and not criminal.

One famous example is OJ Simpson. Ruled not guilty of murder in criminal court, but lost in civil court and had to pay Ron Goldman's family a fuck ton of money, as well as giving up any profits he may have made, or ever will make, based on the murders (that ridiculous book, etc).

Not enough evidence to convince a jury in a criminal trial, but more than enough for civil.

[-] Instigate@aussie.zone 13 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Do you guys use ‘Preponderance of Evidence’ as the standard of proof for civil cases in the US? In Australia we use ‘On the Balance of Probabilities’. I wonder if there’s a technical difference there.

(Tiny pedantic note but the Burden of Proof is about who has to produce the evidence, not the level of evidence required to make a finding - that’s the Standard of Proof)

[-] Kepabar@startrek.website 6 points 9 months ago

Yes we go by preponderance of evidence.

Essentially it's 'whoever you Believe more' in civil cases, which is significantly lower than 'beyond a reasonable doubt ' we use for criminal trials.

[-] Croquette@sh.itjust.works 1 points 9 months ago

There is also the notion that is not all or nothing depending on the proof for and against a defendant. You can ask for X amount, but only get X-Y because the proof against the defendant weren't enough to grant all the X amount.

In criminal court, you are either guilty or not and then, if you are guilty, you can have factors that reduces or lengthen the sentence.

[-] I_Fart_Glitter@lemmy.world 5 points 9 months ago

See also Martin Luther King Jr's family bringing a preponderance of evidence to a civil trial alleging the FBI and CIA were behind the assassination and winning $100 and a footnote in history books.

[-] Afghaniscran@feddit.uk 9 points 9 months ago

I haven't been following this tbh since I'm not American but I did read another comment that said something about the statute of limitations so maybe criminal charges can't be brought due to that weird part of the law where rape gets an expiry date.

[-] Kepabar@startrek.website 7 points 9 months ago

Correct, the state passed a law allowing those cases where statue of limitations have been passed for criminal trails to still sue their attacker in civil court.

It's been suggested this was passed specifically to target Trump, but a good number of sexual assaults never go reported and I believe a few hundred cases have come from this law.

It has since expired, it was only valid for one year.

[-] Varyk@sh.itjust.works -4 points 9 months ago

It is a common phrase within and without jurisprudence.

[-] samson@aussie.zone 4 points 9 months ago

People say I'm guilty, he's guilty etc but it's unlikely to hear "they were found guilty" outside of jurisprudence, and to say that when referring to a judicial trial and then say you meant a lay term when the professional term exists is a bit lax.

I wouldn't say "WiFi" in place of "internet" while referring to an IT problem for example.

[-] Varyk@sh.itjust.works -2 points 9 months ago

Less common outside of jurisprudence, sure. The term is purposefully in my personal TIL body text rather than the title where I kept things succinct and formal. Using a different term doesn't change his guilt of rape, or that a jury legally found him liable for rape and a judge definitively found him guilty of rape.

[-] samson@aussie.zone 0 points 9 months ago

It was found that he raped someone, he is guilty of rape, but a judge did not find him guilty of rape. Why do you insist so much on muddling the definitions of these things? It's not good for democracy or the judicial process to use terms randomly and without definition.

[-] Varyk@sh.itjust.works 1 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Let's help you along.

The judge cited definitions offered by the American Psychological Association and the Justice Department, which in 2012 expanded its definition of rape to include penetration “with any body part or object.”

Using the definition of the word rape, the judge declared trump guilty of rape.

Having used definitions, this "judge definitively found him guilty of rape".

You may personally be more familiar with other uses of the words "definitively", "judge", "guilty", "found" or "rape", but their usage here is in no way inaccurate or untrue.

[-] awnery@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago

knowledgefight.com - huge resource

[-] Varyk@sh.itjust.works 2 points 9 months ago

Hey thanks! Jones was right about those gay frogs, though...

[-] KneeTitts@lemmy.world 17 points 9 months ago

The very fact that she said she could not tell if he used a finger or his penis kinda proves shes not lying... if she was set out to make money off him by lying Im pretty sure part of that lie would be "yeah his penus was def inside me bro"

this post was submitted on 24 Oct 2023
708 points (94.9% liked)

Today I Learned

16910 readers
1595 users here now

What did you learn today? Share it with us!

We learn something new every day. This is a community dedicated to informing each other and helping to spread knowledge.

The rules for posting and commenting, besides the rules defined here for lemmy.world, are as follows:

Rules (interactive)


Rule 1- All posts must begin with TIL. Linking to a source of info is optional, but highly recommended as it helps to spark discussion.

** Posts must be about an actual fact that you have learned, but it doesn't matter if you learned it today. See Rule 6 for all exceptions.**



Rule 2- Your post subject cannot be illegal or NSFW material.

Your post subject cannot be illegal or NSFW material. You will be warned first, banned second.



Rule 3- Do not seek mental, medical and professional help here.

Do not seek mental, medical and professional help here. Breaking this rule will not get you or your post removed, but it will put you at risk, and possibly in danger.



Rule 4- No self promotion or upvote-farming of any kind.

That's it.



Rule 5- No baiting or sealioning or promoting an agenda.

Posts and comments which, instead of being of an innocuous nature, are specifically intended (based on reports and in the opinion of our crack moderation team) to bait users into ideological wars on charged political topics will be removed and the authors warned - or banned - depending on severity.



Rule 6- Regarding non-TIL posts.

Provided it is about the community itself, you may post non-TIL posts using the [META] tag on your post title.



Rule 7- You can't harass or disturb other members.

If you vocally harass or discriminate against any individual member, you will be removed.

Likewise, if you are a member, sympathiser or a resemblant of a movement that is known to largely hate, mock, discriminate against, and/or want to take lives of a group of people, and you were provably vocal about your hate, then you will be banned on sight.

For further explanation, clarification and feedback about this rule, you may follow this link.



Rule 8- All comments should try to stay relevant to their parent content.



Rule 9- Reposts from other platforms are not allowed.

Let everyone have their own content.



Rule 10- Majority of bots aren't allowed to participate here.

Unless included in our Whitelist for Bots, your bot will not be allowed to participate in this community. To have your bot whitelisted, please contact the moderators for a short review.



Partnered Communities

You can view our partnered communities list by following this link. To partner with our community and be included, you are free to message the moderators or comment on a pinned post.

Community Moderation

For inquiry on becoming a moderator of this community, you may comment on the pinned post of the time, or simply shoot a message to the current moderators.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS