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A judge on Wednesday threw out a defamation case that Hanover County Supervisor Sean Davis had brought against Style Weekly.

Michael Levy, a Stafford County Circuit Court judge who heard the case in Hanover Circuit Court, granted the Richmond-based alternative newspaper’s motion to throw out the case before sending it to a jury for deliberation.

Levy said that, as a public official, Davis faced a higher threshold for proving he had been defamed.

“You’re required to have a thicker skin,” Levy said of public officials.

Davis said after the hearing that he felt the case would have turned out more in his favor had it been allowed to go to jurors. He was seeking at least $1.35 million in damages.

“We have a system, I believe, in place in America where a jury should decide,” Davis said. “I think the judge is probably a fine adjudicator, but in today’s climate with the media being what it is, it’s a very, very tough fight.”

Davis said he is still considering whether to appeal the judge’s ruling.