Judge in case of Ohio man accused of killing 11 sues newspaper for $50M, says privacy violated

Judge in Ohio murder case sues newspaper for $50M

CLEVELAND — A judge presiding over the Ohio trial of a man charged with killing 11 women and hiding their bodies around his home is suing a newspaper covering the case for $50 million in damages.

An attorney for Cuyahoga (ky-uh-HOH’-guh) County Common Pleas Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold and her daughter, Sydney Saffold, filed the lawsuit Wednesday.

The suit says The Plain Dealer newspaper, parent company Advance Publications Inc. and the company that runs the newspaper’s Web site released confidential information that violated the site’s privacy policy.

The newspaper reported March 26 inflammatory anonymous comments posted on its Web site about murder suspect Anthony Sowell were traced to the judge’s personal AOL e-mail account.

The judge denied posting the comments and said her daughter posted them.

The Plain Dealer has declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Sowell has pleaded not guilty.