Miami Judge Sets April 2025 Jury Trial in Trump’s Defamation Suit vs. ABC

A jury trial in former President Donald Trump’s defamation suit against ABC, ABC News and Sunday host George Stephanopoulos (see 2403190059) is set for the two-week trial calendar beginning on April 7, 2025, said a scheduling order signed Tuesday (docket 1:24-cv-21050) by U.S. District Judge Cecilia Altonaga for Southern Florida in Miami. April 29 is the parties’ deadline for picking a mediator and filing a proposed order scheduling that required mediation, said the order. Altonaga’s order referred all discovery matters in the case to U.S. Magistrate Judge Lisette Reid. The parties may consent to trial and final disposition by the magistrate judge, and Dec. 24 is their deadline for submitting a consent, it said. All discovery in the case, including expert discovery, is to be completed by Dec. 9, said the order. Trump alleges that Stephanopoulos repeatedly said on his Sunday ABC television show that multiple juries had found Trump liable for raping journalist E. Jean Carroll. In May, a federal jury in New York found Trump liable for sexually assaulting Carroll during a 1996 encounter in a New York department store but not liable for raping her. Trump is appealing that verdict.