MONTGOMERY, Ala. (Legal Newsline) – The Alabama Supreme Court has ruled that a defamation case involving former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy S. Moore will stay in a Montgomery County court.
Attorneys for Moore and his U.S. Senate campaign committee had petitioned the high court to reverse an order from Montgomery County Circuit Court that denied a change of venue to Etowah Circuit Court.
"Based on the materials before us, we cannot say that the trial court acted arbitrarily and capriciously in determining that this action has more than a 'little' or 'weak' connection to Montgomery County. Thus, we cannot say the trial court erred in determining that the interest of justice does not require the transfer of this action to Etowah County," the Supreme Court ruled Aug. 17.
The matter involves a defamation suit brought by Leigh Corfman. In November 2017, the Washington Post published an article in which Corfman claimed that she and Moore had a sexual encounter when she was just 14 years old and he was 32. Moore has denied the allegations.
"In the affidavit, Moore described Corfman's abuse allegations as 'false' and 'malicious' and averred that the results of a polygraph test showed that he had never had any contact with her," according to the ruling. At least five additional women have also alleged sexual misconduct against Moore. The allegations all came to light in 2017 as Moore was running for U.S. Senate.
Moore served as chief justice in the Alabama Supreme Court from 2000 until 2016, then lost his campaign for U.S. Senate in 2017.
Moore was suspended from the court in 2016 for an order against the issuance of marriage permits for same-sex couples.
According to the court ruling, in January, attorneys for Corfman filed suit against Moore and his U.S. Senate campaign alleging defamation. According to Corfman, Moore and the Committee "defamed [her] repeatedly and in all forms of media [by] calling her a liar and questioning her motivation for publicly disclosing [the alleged abuse]," the ruling states.
Attorneys for Moore, who resides in Etowah County, argued that the venue for the hearing should in fact be held in Etowah County. Corfman had filed the defamation suit in Montgomery County. At that time, Moore's campaign headquarters were located in Montgomery County. The lower courts had denied a motion for a change of venue to Etowah County filed by Moore's attorneys.
Moore and committee members named in the suit allegedly have "asserted at campaign-related events, in public statements, and during media interviews that Corfman's allegations of abuse were false, malicious, and politically motivated," the ruling states.