Roy's Disingenuous Defense
By Charles Bethea
6:16 P.M.
... When Nelson made her allegations public, on Tuesday, appearing at a press conference alongside her lawyer, Gloria Allred, she brought along an old high-school yearbook of hers that appeared to have Moore’s signature below a personal note. It read, "To a sweeter more beautiful girl, I could not say, 'Merry Christmas.'" This yearbook note was intended to help corroborate Nelson’s claim that she and Moore knew each other, a claim that Moore has denied.
On Wednesday evening, Moore released an open letter ... seeking sympathy ... Moore .. attempted to cast doubt on the "false allegations" against him ... Regarding Nelson, Moore referenced the accuser's divorce, for which he was the presiding judge. Nelson, Moore wrote, "was party to a divorce action before me in Etowah County Circuit Court in 1999. No motion was made for me to recuse." Moore went on to wonder at the notion that this "apparently caused her no distress at a time that was 18 years closer to the alleged assault," while now, "talking before the cameras about the supposed assault, she seemingly could not contain her emotions."
... I corresponded with a prominent Alabama attorney who reviewed the filings in Nelson's 1999 divorce case. Based on those filings, the attorney insisted, Moore's claims in the open letter are "completely disingenuous." Nelson, this attorney told me, "was never before Moore," since the divorce was not litigated. Rather, as court documents show, the divorce was filed, continued, and then dismissed. "These are all unilateral actions by the lawyer for the plaintiff," the attorney went on. "A lawyer for the other side never even appeared. It is doubtful that these documents were even given to Nelson." In any case, the attorney told me, Moore, whose signature is only on the motion for dismissal — not the original filing or motion to continue — had no actual discretion over the case.
"When an agreed motion to dismiss is filed, Moore would have no discretion and have to sign," the attorney continued. "Most likely, he never even looked at the parties' names and Beverly had a different last name by then anyway." The attorney concluded, "Moore’s lawyer's statement that Beverly Nelson was before Moore in court and never objected to this circumstance was a lie" ...
https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/roy-moore-disingenuous-defense
