A Virginia judge has ordered "Jackie" of Rolling Stone 's now-retracted expose about an alleged gang rape at the University of Virginia to appear in court to be deposed.
"The court believes that a one-day, seven-hour deposition will be sufficient," Judge Glen Conrad wrote in a court order this week calling for the woman identified only as Jackie to appear in court on April 5.
The woman will be deposed as part of an ongoing lawsuit filed by Nicole Eramo, an associate dean at the University of Virginia, against Rolling Stone , the magazine's owner, Wenner Media, and the writer of the expose, "A Rape on Campus," Sabrina Rubin Erdely.
Three days after "A Rape on Campus" was published, the university suspended all fraternities and canceled all fraternal activities. But the article came under scrutiny soon afterward, with the fraternity where the alleged rape was said to have taken place, Phi Kappa Psi, telling reporters the events described by Erdely never occurred.
As new details emerged, the magazine distanced itself from the story. A local police investigation found " no evidence " to support "Jackie's" claims. Rolling Stone retracted the story and asked the Columbia School of Journalism to conduct a review to determine where the magazine went wrong.
In May 2015, Eramo filed suit against the magazine for defamation. Erdely's depiction of Eramo as callous in the face of Jackie's accusations "were not the result of an innocent mistake; they were the result of a wanton journalist who was more concerned with writing an article that fulfilled her preconceived narrative about the victimization of women on American college campuses, and a malicious publisher who was more concerned about selling magazines to boost the economic bottom line for its faltering magazine, than they were about discovering the truth or actual facts," Eramo's attorney wrote.
Jackie has remained anonymous throughout the entire process. She refused to cooperate with the police investigation that found no evidence of her claims.
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