New trial date in ex-Ohio cheerleader's libel suit

COVINGTON, Ky. (AP) — A judge has scheduled a new trial for a defamation lawsuit pitting a former Cincinnati Bengals cheerleader convicted of having sex with her teenage student against an Arizona-based gossip website that posted lewd comments about her.

Sarah Jones is seeking $11 million over two 2009 posts saying she had sex with every Bengals player and probably had two sexually transmitted diseases.

A January trial in the lawsuit resulted in a hung jury.

U.S. District Judge William Bertelsman set a July 8 trial date today in Jones’ lawsuit against Scottsdale, Ariz.-based thedirty.com and its operator, Nik Richie.

Bertelsman is also considering a request by Richie’s attorneys to reconsider their argument that the website is protected under the Communications Decency Act.

Bertelsman previously ruled the law was not meant for such websites.