Jury: No defamation from Roy Moore or woman who accused him
Associated PressMONTGOMERY, Ala. — A jury on Wednesday found that no defamation occurred between former U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore and the woman who accused him of molesting her when she was 14. In allegations that roiled the 2017 Senate race in Alabama, Leigh Corfman said Moore sexually touched her in 1979 when she was a teen and he was a 32-year-old assistant district attorney. “Although we are disappointed that the jury did not find that Mr. Moore’s statements about Leigh rose to the level of defamation, we are gratified that the jury necessarily found Leigh was telling the truth about her experiences with Mr. Moore in 1979.” Moore attorney Julian McPhillips described the verdict as a “complete and total vindication” for Moore. Circuit Judge John Rochester repeated instructions on the law, including that to find defamation, jurors must determine that Moore or Corfman made false public statements — either knowingly or with reckless disregard for the truth — that damaged the reputation of the other. Corfman’s allegations upended Moore’s Republican campaign in 2017 and he lost to Doug Jones, a former federal prosecutor who became the first Alabama Democrat elected to the Senate in 25 years.
History of this topic
Roy Moore seeks to revive lawsuit against Sacha Baron Cohen
Associated Press
Judge tosses Roy Moore’s lawsuit over Baron Cohen interview
Associated PressDiscover Related
