NEW: As Judge Moore’s Accuser Refuses to Answer Questions Under Oath, His Legal Team Files Motion to Compel
Peter D'Abrosca
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In a huge break in Judge Roy Moore’s defamation suit against Leigh Corfman, the woman who accused him of sexual misconduct during his 2017 U.S. Senate bid, Moore’s legal team has filed a motion compelling Corfman to give a sworn deposition of the events in question.
So far, Corfman has refused to appear for depositions in which she would be asked, under oath, specific questions about Moore’s alleged misconduct. She has claimed to The Washington Post, but never in a sworn affidavit, that the Judge made unwanted sexual advances towards her when she was a teenager. The central question in the case is where the alleged event took place – whether in a trailer, or in a home.
“Her refusal to comply with discover has prejudiced Judge Moore and it is apparent that absent court investigation, Leigh Corfman will continue to violate the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure, conceal evidence and deny Judge Moore the documents and responses he is due under the law,” the court documents said.
Another document describes the conundrum that Corfman has before her, whether the event took place inside a trailer or a physical home. She has not been able to confirm this detail.
Attorneys for each side are fighting over which side must be deposed first, and on which issues. Obviously, the Moore team does not want to answer deposition questions that would help Corfman “fill in the blanks” in her story – like what type of residence she was in when the Judge allegedly violated her. Even still, the Judge has been deposed, despite Corfman not answering his discovery.
The last document claims that Corfman would not “sit for her deposition because Judge Moor would not testify to ‘the appearance of his vehicle, his residence and his driveway in 1979, – the exact same question that Corfman refused to answer.”
From these documents, it appears that Corfman is trying to hold out, hoping that the Judge will be forced to answer further questions about the details of the residence before she is deposed. That raises suspicion. Why not just tell the court what she remembers? The answer, of course, is that she is afraid that her story will not match verifiable facts provided by the Judge, and that she will be exposed.
Johnny Davis, a former Alabama criminal defense attorney who currently runs an international and Constitutional law consulting firm told Big League Politics in a prior interview that Corfman’s story “cannot withstand cross examination” due to numerous flaws and irregularities. We reported:
“What we have to believe [in order] to believe Corfman’s story is that essentially Roy Moore grew up behaving himself, went to West Point and showed exemplary character there, served in Vietnam, went to law school, started practicing, in his early 30’s was a sexual predator for a while, and then was never a sexual predator again,” Davis told Big League Politics in an earlier phone interview.
“That’s not how it works,” he continued. “You don’t have an isolated year, 40 years ago of sexually predatory behavior. The pathology does not work that way.”
Davis also noted Corfman’s claim that the pair had a relationship of a sexual nature, but never had intercourse. The statute of limitations has run on any potential crimes with which Corfman could press charges against Moore. If she had claimed that the pair had had intercourse, he said, the statute of limitations would not have run. She would still be able to press charges against him to this day, and would have to face questions as to why she has not done so.
Davis told BLP Tuesday evening that he expects a hearing on Moore’s lawyers’ motion either later this month or in February.
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