Defamation Of Character

The California Medical Assn. said Wednesday that the 20% insurance rate rollbacks from November, 1987, levels called for by Proposition 103 might bankrupt several nonprofit, doctor-owned insurance companies that provide most of the state's medical malpractice insurance. Contending that the failure of the companies would force California doctors to seek malpractice insurance from out-of-state companies at much higher rates, Dr.

Teen sensation New Kids on the Block sued their former music director Gregory McPherson for defamation of character on Monday in Suffolk Superior Court in Boston. The defamation suit, which seeks unspecified damages, comes less than a week after the pop quintet interrupted its Australian tour to perform live on "The Arsenio Hall Show" in Los Angeles to counter charges by McPherson that the group is primarily a lip-sync act.

When a motorist filed a complaint against Richard Gibson 18 months ago after a routine traffic stop, the Newhall-area California Highway Patrol officer wasn't about to let it slide. Unknown to the driver, Gibson had recorded the entire encounter on audiotape. His adversary's claim that he had been "rude, yelled and screamed at him and pounded on his car," according to the officer's attorneys, would be easy to refute.

It was a General Motors pickup that exploded in flames. But it's the reputation of NBC News that's up in smoke. In a statement read by "Dateline NBC" co-anchors Jane Pauley and Stone Phillips Tuesday night, the network ate humble peacock, acknowledging that its unscientific crash testing of two GM pickups in a Nov. 16 segment of the weekly news program was "inappropriate and does not support the position that GMC trucks are defective."

A fired Orange County pastor who sued his former church and older brother for libel and wrongful termination has dropped his lawsuit, court officials said. Pastor Joe Sabolick filed a $15-million suit in July against Calvary Chapel of Laguna Beach, alleging that church officials had falsely accused him of pedophilia, adultery and embezzlement.

The high school baseball career of J.D. Martinez has been dissected on TV and radio and in newspapers across the country. Twice his father sued his coach at Corona del Mar High, saying John Emme had derailed his son's college and pro prospects by making him pitch too much. Both cases were dismissed. Monday, it was Emme's turn, as the coach continued to testify in his $1-million defamation and slander suit against Marc Martinez, J.D.'s father.

Dwane Casey, University of Kentucky assistant basketball coach, filed a $7-million lawsuit against Emery Air Freight and its employees Friday. Casey claimed that publicity resulting from Emery's alleged finding of $1,000 in a package sent by him to the father of Fairfax High School recruit Chris Mills has damaged his reputation. The suit, filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Lexington, Ky.

In a highly unusual reaction from a public official, Los Angeles Police Chief Willie L. Williams may sue a critic for libel. The critic is a former high-ranking LAPD officer who recently urged the Police Commission to investigate rumors that Williams had improperly solicited private favors, misused public equipment and accepted free hotel rooms in Las Vegas. The chief has denied any wrongdoing and the Police Commission, which is investigating, has found none so far.

John DeTomaso, a cargo employee for Pan American World Airways, thought he had a good idea on how to make a few extra bucks. So, in 1978, he paid $300 for unclaimed merchandise that the airline stored in bins and periodically sold to the public sight unseen. In the luck of the draw, two of his bins contained a surfboard, Indian-style costume jewelry and cheap clothing, he said. Another bin contained 13,000 watch batteries.

The embittered legal aftermath of the death of Hank Gathers took an unusual yet predictable twist Thursday when an attorney for Paul Westhead, the former Loyola Marymount basketball coach, filed a $1-million defamation-of-character suit against the attorney who represents the Gathers' family.