Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric M. Davis says he will appoint an outside attorney to investigate whether Fox News attorneys withheld key evidence in weeks leading up to defamation trial.

A judge said Fox lawyers previously "represented to him more than once" that Murdoch was not an officer for the cable network. Such information "could have" led him to make different rulings, he said.

The judge in a $1.6 billion lawsuit against Fox seemed doubtful of the network's argument that Murdoch should not travel to testify. The newly engaged chairman plans to travel widely with his bride.

Delaware Judge Eric M. Davis, known for his poker face, is overseeing both Dominion Voting Systems' lawsuit against Fox News and a similar case against the conservative TV network Newsmax.