Jury rules neither Roy Moore nor Leigh Corfman defamed, Both claim victory
In a conclusion to the defamation trial between former U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore and Leigh Corfman, the woman who accused him of molesting her, the jury finds no defamation from either side.
During the 2017 U.S. Senate race sexual assault allegations were made against then candidate, Roy Moore. The allegations came from Leigh Corfman who said Moore sexually touched her when she was 14 and he was an assistant district attorney in his 30s. This ended up provoking Moore’s campaign which he lost to Doug Jones.
Corfman filed suit alleging he defamed her by branding her a liar when he denied the accusations. Moore countersued, claiming she injured his reputation with false allegations meant to hurt him politically.
“I’ve lived with this for 40 years,” Corfman said.
“I do not have anything to apologize and I did not do anything wrong,” Moore said.
After an eight-day trial, a jury ruled neither side was defamed.
Moore’s attorneys consider it a vindication of all claims for their client.
“He’s been justified and vindicated,” Moore’s attorney Julian McPhillips said. “They were not true, and it proves they were false and malicious by the jury verdict.”
However, those representing Corfman don’t understand why Moore would think the verdict vindicated him. They maintained the jury believed her claims.
“I think that they believe Leigh,” Corfman’s attorney Neil Roman said. “I think they just think that Mr. Moore’s statements about her did not rise to the level of defamation or they weren’t sufficiently impugning to her honesty and integrity.”
Moore had asked for monetary damages. Corfman did not. Neither Moore nor Corfman will collect damages in the cases.
The legal attention now turns to a lawsuit Moore filed in 2018 for political conspiracy that includes Corfman. The case was put on hold pending the outcome of the defamation trial.
