The Wall Street Journal reports that the judge in Sarah Palin’s defamation lawsuit against the New York Times plans to dismiss the case with prejudice, finding that Palin and her attorneys did not provide enough evidence to prove their case.
U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff announced his decision Monday, but will wait until the jury comes back with verdicts before recording his decision. If the jury comes back with a verdict in favor of Palin, Rakoff indicated he would set aside that decision. While it’s unusually for a judge to allow the jury to continue deliberating after he’s determined there’s insufficient cause to continue with the case, a verdict for the Times by the jury would likely prevent a future case on the same grounds and halt any appeals.
Palin sued the Times in 2017, alleging that an editorial published by the Times improperly linked her and a website for her PAC to the assassination attempt on Democratic Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords. However, once it was made aware of the issues regarding the citation, the Times issues a correction and removed the assertion.