Sarah Palin's defamation retrial against The New York Times begins

Opening statements are underway in Sarah Palin's defamation lawsuit retrial against the New York

Times. The revived trial beginning on Tuesday as the former Alaska governor and Republican

vice presidential candidate accuses the Times of defaming her in a 2017 editorial piece in the

wake of a mass shooting. Palin is suing the Times after it published an editorial piece in June of

2017 with the headline America's Lethal Politics. The piece falsely implies Palin may have incited a

January 2011 mass shooting in Arizona, which killed six people and gravely injured Democratic

Representative Gabby Giffords. James Bennett, who assisted with the article, says he faced

deadline pressure to find a clear link between the shooting and a map from Palin's political

Action Committee to show Giffords and other Democrats at risk of targeted violence

The Times revised the editorial piece 14 hours later and issued an apology. A lawyer for the

Times says the paper took corrective action apologized and never meant to harm Palin Palin legal team called the initial apology inadequate because it never specifically referenced the former Alaska governor They argue she suffered emotional and reputational harm as a result

Palin is seeking compensatory and punitive damages in the suit. Palin lost her first defamation trial against the Times

But last August, a court of appeals in Manhattan ordered a new trial after finding the judge in the case made several errors

The court says Judge Jed Rakoff left out evidence showing Palin offered to introduce proof she did not incite the mass casualty event

The panel also noted it was not disclosed to the jury that Bennett is the brother of Michael Bennett, a Democratic senator from Colorado, which it says Palin could have used to establish bias

The retrial is once again in front of Judge Rakoff in Manhattan and nine jurors, including five women and four men

Testimony in the case is expected to take about a week until opening deliberations

A Times spokesperson says they are confident they will prevail in the case once again

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