US writer sues Donald Trump in rape case under New York's new law

Former United States president Donald Trump has been sued on charges of battery and defamation by journalist and writer E. Jean Carroll under a New York law that took effect Thursday. The charges are linked to Carroll's allegations against Trump of raping her in the 1990s.

Here are five points to know about the recent lawsuit:

E. Jean Carroll,78, filed a complaint in Manhattan federal court against the ex-president under New York's newly implemented Adult Survivors Act, reports said. The lawsuit also includes a fresh defamation case over Trump's comments about Carroll in a social-media post last month.

The writer already has a defamation suit pending against Trump in the same court over remarks he made about her from the White House after she went public with the rape claim in 2019.

While her first case against Trump could fail if sovereign immunity from defamation claims is substituted for Trump as he was part of the US government, the recently filed complaint would not fall under this jurisdiction as Trump is now a private citizen.

The new law lifts the statute of limitations for one year on civil claims for sexual offenses. It would thus allow the sexual assault survivors to sue their alleged abusers even if the incident took place long ago and statutes of limitations have expired.

Trump, 76, has denied the rape allegations or knowing Carroll at the time of the incident, and said she was "not my type." Trump first denied the claims in 2019, while he was serving as the 45th President of the United States. This led Carroll to file a defamation case against him five months later. Trump again denied her allegations in a post on his social media site- Truth Social, calling them a "hoax" and "lie".