Plaintiff in Defamation Suit Mocks 'Citizens' Voice' Assertion of Rigged Judgment

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By: A businessman who won a $3.5 million defamation award against a Pennsylvania newspaper ridicules the paper's claim that the judgment was fixed.

The Citizens' Voice of Wilkes-Barre asked the state Supreme Court last week to overturn the award granted by Luzerne County Judge Mark Ciavarella in 2006. Ciavarella and another judge recently pleaded guilty to fraud charges in an unrelated case.

The Citizens' Voice claims in court papers the defamation award may have been fixed by Ciavarella.

In a response filed Wednesday with the high court, the lawyer for plaintiff Thomas Joseph says the paper has engaged in "wild speculation" unsupported by a "scintilla of fact." He asks the Supreme Court to toss the newspaper's petition.

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