MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) 鈥� A jury found Wednesday that no defamation occurred in dueling lawsuits between former U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore and the woman who accused him of molesting her when she was 14.
Leigh Corfman came forward during the 2017 Senate race and said Moore sexually touched her in 1979 when he was an assistant district attorney in his 30s. The allegations roiled Moore鈥檚 campaign, and he ended up losing to Doug Jones.
Moore had asked for monetary damages. Corfman did not.
Both Corfman and Moore took the witness stand during the trial, giving sometimes emotional testimony.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP鈥檚 earlier story follows below.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) 鈥� A jury resumed deliberations Wednesday on competing defamation lawsuits filed by former U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore and a woman who accused him of molesting her decades ago when she was 14.
After on the claims by Moore and Leigh Corfman, the jury asked to go home and view videos that were introduced as evidence when they returned. The videos show statements Moore made at campaign events and in media interviews denying the accusations.
Corfman maintains Moore sexually touched her in 1979 when she was a teen and he was a 32-year-old assistant district attorney. Corfman filed suit alleging Moore defamed her by branding her a liar when he denied the accusations. Moore countersued, claiming Corfman injured his reputation with false allegations meant to hurt him politically.
Jurors Wednesday asked for a definition of defamation under state law. 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 鈥� either knowingly or with reckless disregard for the truth 鈥� that damaged the reputation of the other.
Although Corfman is seeking only a declaration that she was defamed, Moore is asking for money.
Corfman鈥檚 allegations, first reported by The Washington Post, upended Moore鈥檚 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. Jones lost the next election to Republican Tommy Tuberville, who now holds the Senate seat.
Moore, a conservative Christian known as the 鈥淭en Commandment judge" for displaying the Old Testament laws in courthouses, was twice removed as chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court for violating judicial ethics rules.
The Associated Press
