A Northwestern University professor has lost the second round of his defamation case against three media outlets that all published reports that he raped a student.
In a ruling written by Justice Mary K. Rochford, the 1st District Appellate Court held Friday that “the alleged defamatory statement was capable of an innocent construction” because none of the news stories named the professor.
Also at issue in the case was whether the media outlets improperly characterized the allegations as a “rape …