Jury finds that Donald Trump sexually abused E. Jean Carroll in civil case

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

at the end of the day, the only thing that matters is that this statement is true: Trump was found guilty of sexual abuse.

That statement actually isn't true.  He was found liable for sexual abuse.  A civil trial does not determine guilt or innocence.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

I'm definitely happy that Trump was found liable on the sexual abuse and related allegations. I'm reasonably convinced that he very likely committed these assault, and it's absolutely right that he face consequences for it.  It's too bad that a criminal trial on this is not really feasible.

I'm more uneasy about the defamation verdict.  As a fairly strong civil libertarian, I generally don't think anyone should be subject to a defamation claim as a consequence of attempting to defend themselves from serious criminal allegations.  I worry that this could have a chilling effect on the right of criminal defendants to question the credibility of criminal accusers.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

It determines guilt or innocence to a different confidence level.

No it doesn't.
Trump was not charged with a crime here.
He was accused of a tort.
You cannot be "guilty" of a tort; that is a description that is confined to criminal trials.
You can be liable for a tort, which is what the jury found.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

It determines guilt or innocence to a different confidence level.

No it doesn't.
Trump was not charged with a crime here.
He was accused of a tort.
You cannot be "guilty" of a tort; that is a description that is confined to criminal trials.
You can be liable for a tort, which is what the jury found.

But he can't be found liable of sexually abusing her unless they find it's more likely than not he sexually abused her. So in that sense he was found guilty of doing that to that confidence level.

The tort of sexual abuse is not necessarily the same as the crime of sexual abuse.
The jury found that he likely committed acts that constitute the tort of sexual abuse.
But they never considered whether he was guilty of any crime.
And it's just not accurate to say someone was "found guilty" of a tort.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

at the end of the day, the only thing that matters is that this statement is true: Trump was found guilty of sexual abuse.

I mean, the statement isn't really true though.  Guilty would mean he was found guilty of a crime.  This was a civil trial.  It is correct to say he was found liable, not that he's guilty.

But in this case, being "liable" means the jury concluded that more likely than not, Trump is guilty of committing a crime.  The differences between this and a criminal trial are that the standard of proof is lower, he faces no criminal penalties, and the jury's finding isn't officially called "guilty."  But to someone who doesn't know civil law, it's misleading to say that "...he was found liable, not that he's guilty" because there are other situations where individuals or entities are not considered, by any standard of proof, to have themselves committed the wrong but are nevertheless held liable (for example, companies for the actions of individuals who work for them).  That's not the case here.  

If we're going to have this sort of debate, we should acknowledge that words often have multiple meanings and that a legal definition, when it exists, is not the only one that carries weight.  If a guy lives alone but has a girlfriend, is he single?  Legally speaking, yes.  The relationship has no legal recognition, he checks the "single" box when he does his tax returns, etc.  But is he single in the way the word is used in ordinary, everyday speech?  Definitely not.  If he has sex with another woman and his girlfriend finds out, he'll hardly be able to persuade her to stop being angry with him by saying that legally he's single

I guess you could say “the jury believed Trump was guilty of sexual abuse”, because believed isn’t legal terminology.  But you can’t say “the jury found Trump guilty”, because even if “guilty” has a casual meaning beyond the legal frame work, “the jury found” does not.  You would never say “the jury found” outside of decribing a jury’s verdict.  And in this case the jury’s verdict was not that Trump was “guilty” of anything.  

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

This won’t affect Trump in the slightest…the Saudis will pay way more than $83 million for the nuclear docs Trump still has at Mar-a-Lago.