More than four years after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court vacated a $3.5 million verdict issued in favor of Luzerne County businessman Thomas A. Joseph Sr. and his son, on the grounds of judicial impropriety, and two years after a Luzerne County judge found against them in a second trial, the state Superior Court has ruled that the Josephs are entitled to a third trial in their defamation case against a local newspaper.
This time, however, the trial will focus solely on the issues of whether the plaintiffs proved general damages and whether the defendants acted with actual malice, which could entitle the plaintiffs to punitive damages and presumed damages as well.
