By Glynn Wilson –

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Former judge Roy Moore is like a vampire of a perennial politician who won’t stay politically dead.

Former judge Roy Moore speaks at Oak Hollow Farm in Fairhope with one week to go in U.S Senate race, Dec. 5, 2017: Photo by Glynn Wilson

In spite of being rejected by a majority of voters in a U.S. Senate special election in December for a seat held by Republicans for a quarter century, a race he lost to a Democrat, Doug Jones, and previously losing a race for governor and being kicked off the state Supreme Court twice, apparently it will take a stake through Moore’s high-handed moral heart to make him go away.

While Moore disappointed a camera crew from Alabama Public Television by not showing up for court here on Thursday, his team of lawyers showed up for a scheduling hearing before Montgomery Circuit Judge Roman Ashley Shaul, who has already denied a motion to dismiss the defamation case against him and a motion to change the venue to Etowah County, where the county seat is Gadsden. That’s where Moore is alleged to have engaged in sexual misconduct by soliciting sex from underage teen-aged girls back when he was an assistant district attorney, long before making a name for himself as a judge by championing the Ten Commandments in courthouses and launching his “moral law” crusade against the long-held American principle of the separation of church and state.

Several young women came out with stories about Moore’s sexcapades during the Senate campaign last year, including Leigh Corfman, who filed a defamation case against Moore in January for denying ever knowing her or taking her to his home and exposing himself to her, undressing her and attempting to have sexual relations when she was only 14 and he was 32.

One of Moore’s new lawyers, Melissa Isaak, a conservative Christian attorney who apparently specializes in representing men she says are “wrongfully accused,” according to her website, filed a counter suit this week accusing Ms. Corfman of defamation.

According to legal experts it would be nearly impossible for Moore to win a libel case against anyone for defamation of character since he is no doubt a public figure who has been thrusting himself into the vortex of public controversy for decades. Moore’s attorneys are trying to claim that Ms Corman in this case is a “limited public figure” for injecting herself into the public controversy of the election.

Her attorneys will argue, however, that she never sought publicity and only came forward when her identity was found out and she was approached by reporters for the Washington Post back in November. This all came out during the height of the #MeToo movement, when women were speaking out all over the country against men who had sexually molested or harassed them in the past.

Judge Shaul set a tentative date of Dec. 10, 2018, for the trial, pending a ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court on the appeal of his ruling denying the motion for change of venue. He gave the high court until May 1 to overturn his ruling.

While Isaak was present in court, she never addressed the judge. Julian McPhillips and Kenneth Shinbaum did all the talking. When asked after court why he was there, Mr. McPhillips, a long-time and well-known Democrat, said it was “a matter of principle.”

“Everyone has a right to defend himself in court when he is accused of something,” he said.

While the original appeal of the motion to change the venue was filed with the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals, it was automatically shifted to the state Supreme Court because damages could exceed $50,000, although no specified damages were outlined in the original lawsuit.

Judge Shaul conceded that the basis for the appeal “may have some merit,” although he indicated he doubted the high court would overturn his ruling to try the case in Montgomery, where it was filed.

Moore’s attorneys had also requested that the judge place a hold on the case until a ruling comes down on the appeal. Judge Shaul indicated that he was inclined to deny that request, but he agreed to wait until May 1 to officially schedule the trial for Dec. 10.

In the countersuit, Moore claims the charges of sexual impropriety cost him the election, although public opinion data from the time suggests that Doug Jones would have won the election even without the sex scandal story that ratcheted up the race and made it front page national news.

Yet his newest attorney, Melissa Isaak, issued a statement on Tuesday claiming: “This is and has been a political attempt to smear the good name and reputation of Judge Roy Moore and we will not let their injustice continue.”

In the countersuit, lawyers argue that Ms. Corfman “knowingly, willingly and maliciously made statements she knew to be false to the Washington Post with the intention and knowledge that such statements would damage the reputation of Mr. Moore.”

“The statements made by Leigh Corfman accused Roy Moore, in his capacity as Deputy District Attorney, of sexually abusing her when she was 14 years of age,” the countersuit claims. “These statements were made despite no physical evidence of abuse, no documentary evidence of abuse, no corroborating police reports indicating that Leigh Corfman was abused, no corroborating court documents indicating Leigh Corfman was abused, and, in fact, no corroborating proof other than her allegation that she ‘vaguely’ told a friend.”

Yet it has already been reported that Ms. Corfman and her mother both said that Moore approached her in 1979 as she waited outside a custody hearing at the Etowah County Courthouse, where they arranged to meet later. That’s when Moore took Ms. Corfman to his home, exposed himself to her only in tightey-whitey underwear, removed some of her clothes, fondled her, guiding her hand to touch his penis, and tried to engage in sexual intercourse. She grew uncomfortable and asked to be taken home.

“Our client has been repeatedly called a liar — including in this court filing by Roy Moore,” one of Ms. Corfman’s attorneys, Neil Roman, said in a statement reported by an Alabama news website. “As we have said all along, Ms. Corfman’s focus is on holding those who say that she lied accountable, and we look forward to the discovery process in our case against Mr. Moore and his campaign committee and defending our client in court.”

Unless an appeals court rules otherwise, the case will have its day in court in December. No doubt the TV cameras will be there. And no matter how the case turns out, don’t expect this to be the last word from Roy Moore. He is a political animal on a mission from god.