Libel

Convicted cocaine dealer Harry Thomas Perzigian filed a suit Thursday against actor Carroll O'Connor, who publicly blamed Perzigian for his adopted son's suicide in March. Perzigian, who was sentenced to a year in jail a week ago, charges that O'Connor libeled him and caused him emotional distress, according to papers filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.

A Santa Monica Superior Court jury Monday recommended that a Bakersfield farmer be awarded more than $1.1 million in damages because a tabloid newspaper identified him as the real assassin of Robert F. Kennedy. The money would go to Khalid Khawar, who was standing next to Kennedy on the night he was killed at the Ambassador Hotel in 1968. The Globe, a supermarket tabloid, printed a story in which conspiracy theorist Robert Morrow said Khawar, not Sirhan Sirhan, was the true assassin.

Sarah Palin 's remarks Wednesday in which she accused critics who would tie her political tone to the Arizona shootings of committing a "blood libel" against her have prompted an instant and pronounced backlash from some in America's Jewish community. The term dates to the Middle Ages and refers to a prejudice that Jewish people used Christian blood in religious rituals. "Instead of dialing down the rhetoric at this difficult moment, Sarah Palin chose to accuse others trying to sort out the meaning of this tragedy of somehow engaging in a 'blood libel' against her and others," said David Harris, president of the National Democratic Jewish Council, in a statement.

A Jordanian court convicted three journalists of libeling Islam's prophet and sentenced them to prison terms ranging from two to six months. The State Security Court said their Jan. 14 article about the prophet's sex life harmed Jordan's image, "destabilizing the society, propagating perversity and circulating false rumors." All three of the journalists pleaded not guilty. They said the article was based on historic and religious references about Muhammad's life with one of his wives, Aisha.

An employee of a gourmet coffee company is guilty of libel for hijacking a rival roaster's website and linking it to pages displaying pornography and foul language, a jury has found. Tim Dominick, roasting director of Sacred Grounds in Arcata, was found guilty Thursday of two counts of libel and one count of intentional infliction of emotional distress against the owners of Bayside Roasters.

An Ohio appeals court has cleared the Cincinnati Post in a libel lawsuit filed by an ambulance service and its owner over stories describing its response to a fatal stampede at a rock concert. The Ohio 1st District Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld a lower court ruling that the newspaper did not libel National Medic Services Corp. and its owner, Victor Guy Ninio. They sued in June, 1980, claiming they were libeled by stories in the Post that reported that the ambulance company was ill-equipped to handle injuries at a Dec. 3, 1979, rock concert by The Who at Riverfront Coliseum.

A journalist was ordered Monday to pay a murder defendant $6,500 for an article that concluded the man arranged his wife's slaying in Los Angeles. The order came despite the fact that the libel case victor is currently on trial for allegedly trying to arrange the murder, and is serving a prison term for plotting an earlier unsuccessful attempt to kill his wife.

Mirage Resorts Inc. Chairman and Chief Executive Stephen Wynn was awarded $3.17 million in damages by a Nevada jury in his libel suit against the publisher of a Wynn biography. Barricade Books, the publisher of "Running Scared: The Life and Treacherous Times of Las Vegas Casino King Steve Wynn," falsely alleged in the book's catalog advertisement that Wynn had ties with organized crime, Wynn's attorney, Barry Langberg, said in a statement. The jury awarded Wynn $2.

Stating that someone is gay does not libel them, particularly in light of new court decisions granting gays more rights, a federal judge in Boston has ruled. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Nancy Gertner came as she threw out a lawsuit by an ex-boyfriend of pop singer Madonna who claimed he was libeled because his name appeared in a caption in a book about Madonna -- under a photo of Madonna walking with a gay man.

Republican presidential candidate Pat Robertson on Wednesday apparently prevented a settlement that would head off a March 8 trial of a libel suit he has filed against former Rep. Paul N. (Pete) McCloskey (R-San Mateo), who questioned Robertson's war record. Robertson said he would not pay McCloskey's legal expenses, said to be $450,000, as a way to avoid the trial. "I wouldn't pay a nickel to somebody who is a patent liar," Robertson said.