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Condit sues Dunne for Slander - Newsday 12/16/02
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Rita



Joined: 20 Sep 2002
Posts: 13
Location: Nashville, TN

PostPosted: Mon Dec 16, 2002 10:05 pm    Post subject: Condit sues Dunne for Slander - Newsday 12/16/02 Reply with quote

Condit sues Dunne for slander

By Tom Hays
Associated Press Writer

December 16, 2002, 8:14 PM EST

NEW YORK -- Former Rep. Gary Condit sued Dominick Dunne for $11 million on Monday, claiming the author slandered him in interviews about the Chandra Levy case.

Dunne "made false and defamatory statements accusing (Condit) of involvement in the crimes of kidnapping and murder," said the lawsuit filed in federal court in Manhattan.

The suit cited radio, television and newspaper interviews in which Dunne linked Condit to the disappearance of Levy.

Dunne described receiving a mysterious tip that Levy's killers were associates of a prostitution ring serving Arab embassies where Condit was a frequent guest, and that her body was dumped into the ocean from an airplane, suit said.

"I can't authenticate all of this," Dunne said on CNN's "Larry King Live" in February. "But (the source) said she was essentially kidnapped, that she was drugged. She was taken in a limousine. She was put on a plane."

After Levy's remains were found in May in Rock Creek Park in Washington, Dunne was quoted in a newspaper article saying the tip turned out to be a hoax. But he still cast suspicion on Condit, the suit said.

"I don't think he killed her," Dunne allegedly said. "I think he could have known it was going to happen."

The California Democrat reportedly told investigators he was having an affair with Levy, a former intern at the Bureau of Prisons. But he denied any involvement in her disappearance, and police never named him as a suspect.

Dunne "transformed an allegation of sexual misconduct into criminal accusations," said Condit's attorney, L. Lin Wood.

Condit, who lost re-election earlier this year, decided "he would not tolerate these kinds of accusations," Wood said. He added his client planned to file similar suits against other defendants.

A call to Dunne was not immediately returned.

Dunne, who has written about the high-profile trials of O.J. Simpson and Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel, is a frequent commentator about the legal troubles of the rich and famous. He writes a column for Vanity Fair magazine and hosts his own series on Court TV.

Because of Dunne's comments, Condit "has suffered emotional distress and mental pain," along with "permanent impairment to his ability to obtain or maintain gainful employment," the suit said. He seeks at least $1 million in compensatory and $10 million in punitive damages.


Copyright © 2002, The Associated Press
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rd



Joined: 13 Sep 2002
Posts: 9273
Location: Jacksonville, FL

PostPosted: Mon Dec 16, 2002 10:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

wow, Rita, just as I post that you can't get sued for quoting from news articles, you post that Condit sued! Well, for sure, we won't be coming up with cockamamy like Dunne did.

Sure is good to hear from you, Rita.

cheers!
rd

click to read the online true crime mystery novel Murder on a Horse Trail: The Disappearance of Chandra Levy

www.justiceforchandra.com home page
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Jayne



Joined: 15 Sep 2002
Posts: 368
Location: Columbus, Ohio

PostPosted: Mon Dec 16, 2002 11:27 pm    Post subject: Good to see you Rita! Reply with quote

It's great to see you posting again, Rita. This could get juicy...
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propria



Joined: 20 Sep 2002
Posts: 630
Location: northern illinois

PostPosted: Tue Dec 17, 2002 12:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

>>> Condit's attorney, L. Lin Wood <<<


uh oh ... another one bites the dust, and i didn't think ANYbody could be scummy enough to run off gory-gross! i'm not nearly as surprised to see this suit as i was to hear dunne make those remarks to begin with ... even when chandra was just 'missing', those claims sounded too far out there to be taken seriously. what's really going to be interesting is watching to see if the condit clan sues otis thomas, or anyone else making reference to his daughter's biracial child as possibly being a condit relation. something tells me the real source of condit's 'emotional pain and suffering' is the very thought of having to get his hands dirty at a real job ... like welding, for instance.


nanci
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EmmaPeel



Joined: 20 Sep 2002
Posts: 472
Location: Texas

PostPosted: Tue Dec 17, 2002 12:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

rd wrote:
wow, Rita, just as I post that you can't get sued for quoting from news articles, you post that Condit sued! Well, for sure, we won't be coming up with cockamamy like Dunne did.

Sure is good to hear from you, Rita.

cheers!
rd


Well of course Dunne didn't just quote a newspaper. I've got to wonder if he thought about "outing" his source for feeding him such a line of bull.

OTOH, I don't know that Condit has a case regarding the "drugged" story as just saying, "she was essentially kidnapped, that she was drugged. She was taken in a limousine. She was put on a plane," is not the same as saying Condit put her on the plane. I don't remember him saying anything connecting Condit to Arabs. Dunne is pretty cagey. But maybe some of that came from the Vanity Fair articles (which I didn't see). I think we've got this (LKL) transcipt up here somewhere. This was a different interview from the second quote.

I saw the interview where Dunne said, "I don't think he killed her. I think he could have known it was going to happen." He reported on a later LKL that he got a threatening call from Condit's lawyer the next day. Well if it was that bad, why didn't they sue him then? Why wait until months later? I think they've got a stretch, if they're going to claim that is slander. Condit is a public figure so the law is more lienent. Remember, he'll have to prove that Dunne knowingly told a lie. Then he has to prove that THAT comment was not only a lie, but caused damage. Let's face it--with Condit's connection to Levy and his subsequent duck and denial--he did it to himself.

This is going to give Vanity Fair (if they play this smart) a ton of publicity.

You'd think Condit would get smart and quietly fade into obsurity, but the Condit's and Lin Wood (also famous for suing anyone who dares give a negative opinion about the Ramseys) seem to be determined to make a career of suing for a living and trying to stiffle the first admendment.

But if I were Condit, I don't think I'd want to piss off Dunne. Nutty theory aside, he's got a lot of political connections. And I don't see him caving--he'll go for the throat.
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jane



Joined: 22 Sep 2002
Posts: 3225

PostPosted: Tue Dec 17, 2002 12:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

What is Condit saying? That's a lie - I didn't dump her in the ocean?
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EmmaPeel



Joined: 20 Sep 2002
Posts: 472
Location: Texas

PostPosted: Tue Dec 17, 2002 1:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

LOL Jane. Right!

Here's a story on the Arab/Condit connection then-alleged by Dunne:

http://www.justiceforchandra.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=291

Next to last post.
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benn



Joined: 19 Sep 2002
Posts: 2136
Location: Sacramento, CA

PostPosted: Tue Dec 17, 2002 1:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

This seems to be the first lawsuit that Condit has filed against anyone. He has made a lot of threats but no actual suits. He may have an angle, if he can get a settlement out of whomever he is suing. It may be cheaper for the party sued to settle than to defend themselves in court.

Condit's new lawyer for libel lawsuits evidently found this case for him. Maybe the lawyer thinks he can get a settlement. Condit has a long time to make a big bluff, and he can always drop the suit if he thinks it is not going to work.

I think Condit made a good decision. He makes so many bad decisions that this one is bound to be bad also, which will be bad for him. I don't see how he can sue anyone without getting on the witness stand. Any good defense attorney will get him to answer more questions than Connie Chung did. Welding might be his best choice.

The media should run more with this story than they have with the Carolyn lawsuits. We will see.

been
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EmmaPeel



Joined: 20 Sep 2002
Posts: 472
Location: Texas

PostPosted: Tue Dec 17, 2002 1:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

benn wrote:
This seems to be the first lawsuit that Condit has filed against anyone. He has made a lot of threats but no actual suits.

been


I consider Carolyn and Gary suits as one and the same. Gary's just been waiting to get out of office. This is probably just the start. They're both employing Lin Wood who's only too happy to do the dirty work.

I agree that he is looking for a retraction and a quick settlement. But he's picking on the wrong people. NE, who'd go to court just to tell the story and who will more than make up any cost on sales. And Dunne, who I'll bet is a real pit-bull when cornered. Keep and eye out on LK's schedule--I'll bet he'll be on soon!

I'm waiting for the Levy's to sue Condit over something substantial--impeding the investigation of their daughter's disappearance and subsequent death.

I wonder if some of the Chandra sites like WC are getting letters threatening suits. Maybe this was the nail into the coffin that caused the site's closure. We'll have to watch the other sites. I abhor people like Lin Wood who threaten people expressing personal opinions of a public figure into silence. They're an aberration to those who embrace freedom of speech.
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rd



Joined: 13 Sep 2002
Posts: 9273
Location: Jacksonville, FL

PostPosted: Tue Dec 17, 2002 2:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I agree completely with your analysis, Emma.

rd
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benn



Joined: 19 Sep 2002
Posts: 2136
Location: Sacramento, CA

PostPosted: Tue Dec 17, 2002 7:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Emma

>>>benn wrote:
This seems to be the first lawsuit that Condit has filed against anyone. He has made a lot of threats but no actual suits.<<<

Emma wrote:
>>>I consider Carolyn and Gary suits as one and the same. Gary's just been waiting to get out of office. This is probably just the start. They're both employing Lin Wood who's only too happy to do the dirty work.<<<

The only reason I have thought that Carolyn's lawsuits, and Gary's lawsuits are separate is I don't know if Gary can be made to take the witness stand at Carolyn's trials. In fact I am not certain that he can be made to take the witness stand at his own trial. He seems to get away with a lot.

Otherwise the intent of all the lawsuits is the same. I can see a big problem if Carolyn says on the witness stand that Gary was not having any affairs. There will be a problem also if she does say he was having affairs. These lawsuits may be the solution to finding out what happened to Chandra.

All I want to do is to wait and see what happens.

benn
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laskipper



Joined: 17 Sep 2002
Posts: 1232
Location: Northern Ohio

PostPosted: Tue Dec 17, 2002 10:34 am    Post subject: Good Grief... Reply with quote

I'm starting to wonder if Condit won't attempt to sue those of us that posted on the various boards. I'm hoping that once you state "In my opinion", that from then on, everything that you state is your opinion.

I suppose if Wood can find some deep pockets on the boards, he'll go for it. That would leave me out, but then it would have to be a suit that named all, wouldn't it?

We didn't think that condit would sue anyone, much less posters on the various boards, but come to learn today, that he is going to make his living off suing people and various entities in the communications world.

Well, Hummer is only half safe. Condit can only get her for the time prior to her 180. Can you picture her on a witness stand? Scare hell out of Lin Wood.


ls
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Scarlett



Joined: 08 Dec 2002
Posts: 17
Location: Greenbay, WI

PostPosted: Tue Dec 17, 2002 1:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It seems that Gary is filing these suits not only to make money, but to distance himself from Chandra. When this was reported today on Fox, it was said that Gary is suing Dunne for saying he was involved in any way in Chandra's disappearance. He's trying to clear himself with these lawsuits. I wonder why he waited so long? If he was truly innocent, he would have sued immediately.
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benn



Joined: 19 Sep 2002
Posts: 2136
Location: Sacramento, CA

PostPosted: Tue Dec 17, 2002 2:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I don't want to make a career of commenting on Condit, but it seems that it would be easy to prove that he did not cooperate fully with the police right away in a missing persons case. For what anyone knows at this point in time Chandra could still have been alive when Condit was delaying the investigation by not being forthcoming.

Well, I am going to sign off on Condit.

benn
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rd



Joined: 13 Sep 2002
Posts: 9273
Location: Jacksonville, FL

PostPosted: Tue Dec 17, 2002 2:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The lawsuits are very specific. NE was sued for saying Carolyn and Chandra had a shouting match over the phone just before Chandra disappeared. They will be asked to prove it, and they can't. Can they ask a bunch of related questions in the process of defending themselves? I don't know, but it will be interesting if they do.

On the other hand, it's about a phone call, not her murder. To get a major damage award, the Condit's have to ask questions that imply that the phone call report led people to believe that the phone call confrontation was involved in Chandra's murder. That will also be just as much of a stretch in bringing in additional information.

Dunne was sued for saying Chandra was dumped in the ocean. He didn't even say Condit dumped her in the ocean, he said he thought Condit probably knew about it.

Veterans like NE and Dunne don't "settle" with the likes of Condit because it would supposedly be more expensive to go to trial than settle. They have lawyers who've been through all this before, and they'll get enough material and publicity out of it to more than pay for their lawyers time.

On the other hand, Lin is just there for a 30+% take of any monies gained. He has nothing but his own time to lose, and that isn't worth anything. He'll hang around and hope for a jackpot someday, but it isn't going to come from settlements with these veterans.

rd
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