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Judge Jed S. Rakoff said during a telephone conference that the
trial can begin April 14 if a deal can’t be made before then.
The lawsuit by the onetime Republican vice presidential
candidate and ex-governor of Alaska stemmed from a 2017 Times’
editorial. Rakoff had dismissed the case in February 2022 as a
jury was deliberating, but the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
in Manhattan restored her claim in August.
David L. Axelrod, a lawyer for the Times, told Rakoff that
lawyers had spoken about exploring how to resolve the case,
particularly since it has become harder to locate witnesses
because so much time has passed.
“It may be that we don't need a trial at all,” he said.
Kenneth G. Turkel, a lawyer for Palin, agreed, noting that the
two sides had never tried mediation.
He said lawyers wanted “to give it a shot.”
Rakoff seemed eager for a settlement.
“I’m all for that if you’re seriously interested in settling.
You can settle it in a matter of days,” the judge said, adding
that he could probably line up a magistrate judge within a day
to meet with them and aid settlement talks.
Axelrod said the lawyers were interested in getting a third
party to mediate. Turkel said they wanted “some type of
discussion; we've had none.”
Palin sued the newspaper after an editorial falsely linked her
campaign rhetoric to a mass shooting. Palin said it damaged her
reputation and career.
The Times acknowledged its editorial was inaccurate but said it
quickly corrected errors it described as an “honest mistake.” It
also said there was no intent to harm Palin.
After Rakoff dismissed the case, he let the jurors finish
deliberating and announce their verdict, which went against
Palin.
In reversing Rakoff's ruling and opening the way for a new
trial, the 2nd Circuit concluded that Rakoff made credibility
determinations, weighed evidence, and ignored facts or
inferences that a reasonable juror could plausibly find
supported Palin’s case.
The appeals court also noted that Rakoff’s mid-deliberations
ruling might have reached jurors through alerts delivered to
cellphones and thus could “impugn the reliability of that
verdict.”
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