Defamation Of Character

When married real estate agents Scott and Melinda Tamkin read about an episode of the hit crime drama "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" that featured dirty-dealing, S&M-loving real estate agents named Scott and Melinda Tamkin, they didn't need to consult a forensic expert for an explanation. A house sale involving the Tamkins and a "CSI" producer had fallen apart four years before, and the producer was listed, in the same online description, as the co-writer of the episode.

A jury can decide whether the author of a bestselling book about the death of Playboy playmate Anna Nicole Smith defamed her lawyer by making allegations that may be too outlandish to be true, including that he pimped her to up to 50 men a year, a judge concluded Wednesday. U.S. District Judge Denny Chin found plenty of reasons to let a jury hear the facts behind a $60-million libel lawsuit brought by lawyer Howard K. Stern against "Blonde Ambition" author Rita Cosby, a veteran television news anchor and "Inside Edition" correspondent.

Michael Jackson's longtime dermatologist and friend filed suit Monday accusing another physician with a decades-long relationship with the pop icon of slandering him in a British tabloid report about Jackson's death. In papers filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, lawyers for Dr. Arnold Klein alleged that cosmetic surgeon Dr. Steven Hoefflin made statements to the newspaper that he knew were false in an attempt to wreck a rival's reputation and hurt his celebrity-studded Beverly Hills practice.

A mobile home park company controlled by Sam Zell, chief executive of Tribune Co., is locked in a defamation lawsuit against a San Diego County supervisor who accused the company of rent-gouging elderly tenants and lying about making repairs. The dispute began in 2002 when Supervisor Dianne Jacob made comments about the company to tenants and reporters, and to Zell in a letter. The company, Equity LifeStyle Properties Inc.

It's a lurid story, perfect for tabloids and talk shows: Famous athlete allegedly has affair with famous singer. When the athlete is Roger Clemens, who has filed a defamation suit to protect his "good reputation" and accused his former trainer of lying by claiming he injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone, this question could increase the lurid quotient: Would the singer, Mindy McCready, take the witness stand in his trial?

The New York woman who sued Oscar De La Hoya -- seeking $25 million for slander and claiming she was pressured to recant the legitimacy of photos she allegedly took of the boxer in fishnet stockings, high heels and other women's garb -- has dismissed her claim. Facing a possible countersuit by De La Hoya, model and former stripper Milana Dravnel dismissed her case Friday after an expert assessed the photos as "doctored," De La Hoya's attorney said.

Locked in a visitation dispute with his former girlfriend over their young daughter, J.P. Weichel wanted to vent, court records say. Weichel, 40, allegedly posted comments about the woman on the Craigslist "rants and raves" forum, accusing her of child abuse and welfare fraud and making crude comments about her sex life. The woman said the postings were defamatory.

A South Korean doctor who accused a Los Angeles businessman of plagiarism has been convicted of defamation in his home country and ordered to pay a $750 fine. The Seoul Central District Court found that Dr. Jeong-Hwan Kim had damaged the reputation of Kwang Yul Cha, a fertility doctor and chancellor of a South Korean university with ties to Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center. The academic dispute led to a rare showdown with an American medical journal.

The most important free speech case now before the California Supreme Court carries neither the heft of the Pentagon Papers nor the emotion of Nazis seeking to march in Skokie, Ill. In fact, the figure at the center of the case, a Christian evangelist in Newport Beach, makes a highly unlikely 1st Amendment hero.

The California Supreme Court appeared to be divided Monday over whether courts may bar individuals from repeating defamatory statements instead of simply requiring them to compensate the victim monetarily. Meeting for arguments in Sacramento, at least three justices on the seven-member court appeared to believe so-called prior restraint orders may at times be justified. Chief Justice Ronald M.