NEW YORK—Judge Jed Rakoff struck Sarah Palin (R) with a fatal punch to her defamation lawsuit against The New York Times on Feb. 14 when …
NEW YORK—Judge Jed Rakoff struck Sarah Palin (R) with a fatal punch to her defamation lawsuit against The New York Times on Feb.14 when he ruled in favor of a motion by the defense, which essentially nullifies a jury’s verdict in her favor should it come back with one. Officially known as Federal Rule of Civil Procedure Number 50, or the “Rule 50 Motion,” the motion states the plaintiff has to have sufficient evidence for every element it needs to prove. In this case, the element in question is “actual malice.” Proving this one is the most difficult of the four being considered by the court. The whole trial teetered on a razor’s edge all morning, as Rakoff and lawyers representing both sides debated the motion. As it was during witness testimony, the definition of the word “incitement” was scrutinized again, this time reading from two dictionaries.
