August 8, 2012
Jury Will Hear Trial Involving Gay Student, Lawyer
Jason St. Amand READ TIME: 1 MIN.
DETROIT (AP) - Jury selection is starting in a civil lawsuit against a former state of Michigan lawyer who is accused of stalking and defaming a gay student government president at the University of Michigan.
An attorney for Chris Armstrong says she would drop the case if ex-Assistant Attorney General Andrew Shirvell apologized. Instead, the case is going to trial Tuesday in Detroit federal court.
Shirvell was fired in 2010 after criticizing Armstrong on an anti-gay blog, in Facebook posts and during visits to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He says he has a right to express his belief that Armstrong is a radical activist.
Shirvell now lives in North Babylon, N.Y. He says his statements were true or protected because Armstrong was a public figure.
Armstrong graduated in 2011.
