Deliberations to continue Thursday in Rolling Stone trial

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Jurors will return to court Thursday to continue deliberations in the $7.5 million defamation trial against Rolling Stone magazine over its retracted story about a brutal gang rape.

Local media organizations report that jurors went home Wednesday without reaching a verdict.

University of Virginia administrator Nicole Eramo says the 2014 article portrayed her as a villain who discouraged the woman identified only as Jackie from reporting her alleged sexual assault to police. A police investigation found no evidence to back up Jackie’s claims.

Rolling Stone’s attorneys say there’s no evidence that the reporter knew what she was writing about Eramo was false or had serious doubts about whether it was true.

Jurors heard closing arguments on Tuesday after listening to more than two weeks’ worth of evidence.