A federal appeals court on Wednesday ordered a new trial in former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s libel case against The New York Times.
The court in New York said it had found fault in rulings made by the presiding judge during the original trial, which Palin lost in February 2022.
The civil case stemmed from a 2017 editorial that falsely suggested the onetime Republican vice presidential nominee had incited a deadly mass shooting in Arizona in 2011.
The Times corrected the piece and apologized, but Palin still contended the editorial had damaged her reputation.
After Palin appealed, the three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said it sided with her, citing errors made by Judge Jed S. Rakoff.
Rakoff had tossed the case because he believed Palin’s legal team failed to produce substantial evidence to show that the paper knowingly and recklessly published false information about her.
But the 2nd Circuit found the decision to dismiss the lawsuit mid-deliberations improperly intruded on the jury’s work.
In a 56-page ruling, it also cited the erroneous exclusion of evidence and an inaccurate jury instruction among “several major issues at trial.”
While ordering a new trial, the court dismissed Palin’s request to remove Rakoff from the case because he was biased against her.
The editorial in question had incorrectly connected Palin to the 2011 mass shooting that left Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.) seriously wounded and six people dead.
The Associated Press reported that Palin’s lawyer Shane Vogt said he was reviewing the new opinion.
Charlie Stadtlander, a spokesperson for the Times, said the decision was disappointing but was “confident we will prevail in a retrial,” according to AP.
The case is being watched closely over its potential impact on New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, a landmark Supreme Court decision that established a high bar for public figures to prove defamation.