E. Jean Carroll won a partial victory in her defamation lawsuit against former President Trump on Wednesday, with the judge ruling a trial is needed only to determine how much Trump must pay the writer in damages.

In a significant blow for Trump, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled Trump defamed Carroll by making false statements with actual malice in June 2019 when she came forward with accusations that Trump sexually assaulted her years earlier.

Kaplan ruled that a jury’s May verdict in Carroll’s other lawsuit against Trump, which found him liable for the assault itself and defaming Carroll last fall, is controlling in the case.