Judge Wins Libel Case Against Boston Herald

A jury Friday ordered the Boston Herald to pay $2.1 million for libeling a Superior Court judge, saying it misquoted him as telling lawyers that a 14-year-old rape victim should “get over it.”

In a case closely watched by the media and legal communities, a jury deliberated for more than 20 hours over five days before finding that the newspaper and reporter David Wedge libeled Superior Court Judge Ernest B. Murphy in articles that portrayed him as lenient toward defendants. Another reporter, Jules Crittenden, was cleared.

Murphy claimed Wedge misquoted him as telling lawyers involved in the case about the teenage rape victim: “Tell her to get over it.”

The quote was included in a February 2002 series of Herald articles that said Murphy had been criticized by prosecutors for lenient sentences, including eight years’ probation for a 17-year-old convicted of two rapes and an armed robbery.

Murphy, 61, was bombarded with hate mail, death threats and calls for his removal from the bench. He sued the Herald and its writers, claiming his comments about the 14-year-old, made in a closed-door meeting with lawyers, were misquoted and taken out of context.

“I’m feeling obviously very elated and very gratified about what’s happened so far,” Murphy said as he left court after the verdict was read. Outside the courtroom, he hugged his lawyers and raised their fists triumphantly as his friends and family applauded.

Murphy said he hoped the verdict would be a warning to journalists around the country that innocent people get hurt if they don’t do their jobs properly.

The newspaper continued to stand by its reporting, saying it will appeal and that it will not change how it covers the news in light of the verdict.

“We believe the 1st Amendment allows news organizations to provide uninhibited coverage of government and public figures and we will continue to cover them vigorously,” said Patrick J. Purcell, the newspaper’s president and publisher.