Jury: No defamation from Roy Moore or woman who accused him

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — 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. 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.

The jury deliberated for about three hours before ruling that neither party had prevailed in their claim against the other.

Moore said afterward that the decision was vindication for him and a “very heavy burden” had been lifted.

“There is no other way to interpret this but a victory,” Moore said, with his wife, Kayla, standing beside him.

“I’ve always said these allegations were false and malicious. I mean that today. I’ll say that today very clearly. There were meant to overturn a very successful election in 2017 to the United States Senate and they did exactly that,” Moore said.

Corfman's attorneys rubbed her back seemingly to comfort her after the verdict was read.

Corfman attorney Neil Roman said the decision was not what they had hoped for but noted that jurors must have given credibility to her claim because they didn’t rule Corfman defamed Moore when she told The Washington Post he molested her.

“This is not a victory for Roy Moore. It is not a vindication of him. Although we are disappointed that the jury did not find that Mr. Moore statements about Leigh rose to the level of defamation, we are gratified that the jury necessarily found Leigh was telling the truth about her...