A verdict was announced November 4, in Nicole P. Eramo v. Rolling Stone, LLC, et al., Civil Action No. 3:15-CV-00023, striking a legal and financial blow for the publication and its journalist, Sabrina Rubin Erdely. A 10-person jury in Richmond, Va. found defendants liable in a defamation trial over an invented news story about a rape on the University of Virginia college campus and awarded $3 million in damages to former associate dean, Nicole Eramo. Jurors heard over two weeks of evidence centering on the fictitious narrative told by a freshman student who claimed she was gang-raped by members of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. Erdely later published an article focusing on the woman’s account. Eramo claimed the story depicted her as uncaring and indifferent towards sexual assault victims. The 2014 article ignited a public outcry, but it was ultimately retracted once investigations exposed the student’s story as phony.

There are mixed feelings amongst the public but one of the most noteworthy comes from Los Angeles woman, Liz Seccuro, who acquired a conviction nine years ago against a man who sexually assaulted her in the same University of Virginia fraternity that was at the forefront of this trial. “Someone had to pay for Rolling Stone’s mistakes. But real rape victims have gotten lost in this whole circus,” she stated in an interview quoted by The New York Times.

As noted in my last post, in order to find defendants liable in a case involving a public figure jurors were required to find not only that defendants told a false story, but also that they published it with knowledge of its falsity or reckless disregard for the story’s truth. According to the jury’s verdict form, critical to their ruling was that Rolling Stone delayed its decision to retract the story.

The jurors watched over 11 hours of video testimony, heard from a dozen live witnesses, and examined close to 300 exhibits.

Despite zealous lawyering on both sides, it was Eramo, former associate dean of students at the university, who came out on top.  Lawyer Scott Sexton, who represented Rolling Stone, emphasized that the magazine acted in good faith and within the bounds of the law.  Tom Clare, a lawyer for Eramo painted a different picture, stating that once Rolling Stone decided what the story was going to be about, “it didn’t matter what the facts were.”

Rolling Stone’s lawyers represented Erdely and the magazine will indemnify her for the damages assessed against her in the case. The jury awarded Eramo $2 million from Erdely and $1 million from Rolling Stone.