Sarah Palin, 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee and former governor of Alaska, arrives for her defamation lawsuit against The New York Times at the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, New York on February 14, 2022.
Eduardo Munoz | Reuters
A federal appeals court on Wednesday canceled for the second time the dismissal of a action for libel by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin v The New York Timesand ordered a new trial in the case.
Palin, who was the Republican vice presidential nominee in 2008, claims she was defamed by Editorial Times in 2017 who suggested the 2011 shooting of then-Rep. Gabby Giffords of Arizona linked to a digital graphic released by Palin’s political action committee last year.
The 2nd Circuit US Appeals Court in 2019 he reinstated Palin’s lawsuit after it was first dismissed by Manhattan federal judge Jed Rakoff, who had ruled that she had not sufficiently pleaded an allegation of “actual malice” in her complaint.
On Wednesday, the same appeals court said Rakoff, amid jury deliberations in a February 2022 trial on the lawsuit, erred again in ruling in favor of the Times and dismissed the complaint after finding that no reasonable jury could find that the Times had a motive. out of actual malice against Palin.
Rakoff told the attorneys he would dismiss the lawsuit only after the jury returns its verdict. Jurors later ruled that the Times was “not liable” for the allegations.
In the appeals court ruling Wednesday, a three-judge panel said Rakoff’s decision to dismiss the lawsuit “improperly intruded upon the province of the jury in making credibility determinations.”
The appeals panel in its decision also cited “several significant issues at trial,” including “erroneous exclusion of evidence and inaccurate jury instructions,” a “legally incorrect response” by Rakoff to a juror question, and “jurors learning during of consultations”. of Rakoff’s dismissal of the complaint.
“The jury is sacred in our legal system, and we have a duty to protect its constitutional role, both by ensuring that the role of the jury is not usurped by judges and by ensuring that jurors have the relevant evidence offered and properly instructed. for law,” the appeals committee said.
“Therefore, we REMAND and REMAND a SHOW for proceedings, including a new trial, consistent with this opinion.”
Charlie Stadtlander, a Times spokesman, said in a statement: “This decision is disappointing.”
“We are confident that we will prevail in a retrial,” Stadtlander added.
Shane Vogt, an attorney who represented Palin in her appeal, said in a statement: “Governor Palin is very pleased with today’s decision, which is an important step forward in the process of holding publishers accountable for misleading content. readers and the public. general.”
“The truth deserves a level playing field, and Governor Palin looks forward to presenting her case to a jury that ‘will have the relevant proffered evidence and be properly instructed as to the law,'” as set out in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals opinion. . Vogt said.
