NEW YORK, Feb 14 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge said on Monday he will throw out Sarah Palin's defamation lawsuit against the New York Times (NYT.N), after concluding that an editorial in the newspaper did not maliciously link the former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican U.S. vice presidential candidate to a mass murder.
In an abrupt twist in a trial seen as a test of longstanding protections for American media, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan said Palin's lawsuit must be dismissed because she failed to show the Times acted with "actual malice," the standard in lawsuits involving public figures.
The judge ruled on the trial's eighth day while jurors were still deliberating, and did not inform them of his plan. Rakoff said he plans to enter a formal dismissal only after jurors, who began deliberations on Friday, reach their own verdict.
Rakoff said he expected Palin to appeal, and that the appeals court "would greatly benefit from knowing how the jury would decide it."
His action effectively takes the case out of the hands of jurors. "If you see anything in the media about this case, just turn away," Rakoff told them before dismissing them for the day. |