Judge refuses to dismiss lawsuit against Nancy Grace and CNN

[Newsjock]

Source: Associated Press

A federal judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit that claims CNN host Nancy Grace pushed the mother of a missing toddler to suicide through aggressive questioning.

The U.S. network and Grace had argued the wrongful death lawsuit brought by Melinda Duckett's family would "severely chill" journalists' coverage of missing-persons cases.

But U.S. District Judge William Hodges denied on Thursday their motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

Duckett, 21, was on Grace's show after her son Trenton went missing from her apartment in August 2006.

Grace grilled the woman, accusing her of hiding something because Duckett did not take a lie-detector test and answered vaguely regarding her whereabouts.

Duckett fatally shot herself before the network aired the pre-taped interview.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/arts/tv/story/2008/08/01/grace-nancy-lawsuit.html

[spag68]

1. CNN and all their scumbags

should be wrapped up in a giant scumbag and put out with the trash

[LVjinx]

21. Nancy Grace is a truly vile human being

I hope she's found guilty. She did a number on the Ramseys too. She needs to be held accountable for helping create this "guilty until proven innocent" nonsense that's overwhelmed our justice system.

[aspergris]

46. get a clue. she can't be found "GUILTY"

This is a lawsuit. People aren't found GUILTY.

I of course think this lawsuit is absurd, but it's the age of "nobody is responsible for their own actions", so the lawsuit is going forward. Hopefully the jury will have some sense.

This woman's death was tragic, and nancy grace is a frickin' idiot (man was she idiotic during the duke debacle i might add), but she is NOT responsible for that woman's suicide.

[Joe Bacon]

48. This is how you stop Nancy Grace!

These are my proposals for media accountability and reform:

1) Amend the Communications Act of 1996 to:
2) Reinstate the Fairness Doctrine
3) Force divestiture
4) No entity may own more than a total of 5 media properties in the US. Period (Media properties include: newspapers, wire services, magazines, TV stations, Radio stations, Broadcasting companies, computer companies, motion picture studios, talent agencies, software companies, entertainment production companies, cable systems, web pages, advertising agencies, publishing companies, stores that sell books, DVDs, music, broad and narrowband companies, web hosting sites and webpages)
5) Media companies may not have interlocking directorates. Screwpert Murdoch has NO business sitting on the board of directors of the ASSociated Press!
6) No media company may own more than one media property in a market
7) Advertisers are held responsible for the content of media they purchase advertising for
8) Newspapers, and broadcasting companies are responsible for their content
9) All Media companies are taxed at 25% of their gross income, the funds derived will finance real public broadcasting with no corporate ties.
10) The airwaves belong to the American people, not to Murdoch, GE, Redstone or any other billionaire.
11) Enact a Three Strikes Rule in the media. Three lies and you're out. Freedom of Speech does NOT include the freedom to lie!

Enact these reforms and Nancy Grace will clean up her act, especially when the sponsors and CNN are FORCED to monitor her every word, even her farts and belches :sarcasm:

[WCGreen]

2. Nancy Grace is as far from a Journalists as Jerry Sp[ringer...

[Supersedeas]

18. i dunno -- the ken and Barbie version of journalism is coming round to batshit crazy Nancy

[ooglymoogly]

27. The image of loon Nancy is not complete without a glistening rubber suit,

stiletto's and a whip reigning supreme over a pile of crap and I hope they nail her sagging ass to the cross.

[ooglymoogly]

26. No insult meant for the Springer I hope nt

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[spag68]

5. The language you use

is unworthy of a progressive,even when referring to a sick individual such as Grace. It demeans all women, why not just lump them all together under my scumbag label?

[Trajan]

10. Really ... Is that necessary ?

Cmon .....

[JonLP24]

4. I don't like Nancy Grace

Everyone is always guilty in her eyes before trial even begins. Like the Duke case.

[Truth4Justice]

20. She is so full of hate and rage. I almost feel sorry for her. Almost.

[BlueStateGirl]

22. Or the husband of the Runaway Bride in Georgia. I remember she

practically had him convicted of murdering his wife before it was discovered she'd just left town.

[Scairp]

42. I remember that

Not to defend that woman in anyway, although she was one of the most outrageous to nearly accuse the guy of murdering his fiancee, she wasn't alone. I can't stand her. I tried to watch her show again recently because I wanted an update on legal cases, and she is completely unwatchable. Even people who agree with her point of view get hammered. I have no idea why anyone goes on her show or agrees to speak with her at all she's so abusive.

[AtheistCrusader]

6. I don't care what happens with the court case, I'm not watching CNN anymore.

Even if they do get around to finally firing her. The media is supposed to be OBJECTIVE. Fuck her, and fuck CNN for defending that kind of behavior.

[Buns_of_Fire]

7. "Verdict First, Trial Afterwards" said the Flaming Nostrils of Justice to Alice...

But considering that CNN also keeps Glenn Beck around, it's probably not too surprising.

Nancy will play fast and loose with the truth when it interferes with her victims' advocacy agenda (See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Grace ).

[orleans]

8. good. n/t

[girl gone mad]

9. I can't stand Nancy Grace, but..

I doubt the interview was what pushed this girl to commit suicide.

Just before Melinda Duckett shot herself, bloggers had found her locked MySpace page, on which she had been posting sexy photos and flirting with a love interest in the days immediately following her son's disappearance. Bloggers conjectured that she had killed her son because he was interfering with her ability to date. I think some of them contacted the man she was interested in and he decided he didn't want to have anything to do with her at that point. I don't see how the parents have a good case.

[leapinggnome]

11. Can I get a link to the blogger's story?

Whether Duckett was guilty or not, it is not Nancy Grace's place to decide whether someone is guilty or not without knowing the facts.

Look up <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Grace> and see what kind of person Nancy Grace really is. She even embellished the facts about her fiancee's murder, which is a lot of the "back story" about her so-called crusade for victim's rights. The only person Nancy Grace really wants to help is Nancy Grace.

[girl gone mad]

29. There's a lot of stuff out there..

Melinda voted worst parent of 2006, mentions the discovery of photos showing Melinda giving head while bottle feeding Trenton: http://www.parentsbehavingbadly.com/2007/01/07/melinda-duckett-voted-worst-parent-of-2006/

The blogger who discovered that Melinda had changed her myspace photo from a picture of her with Trenton to one of her by herself in a mini skirt, just after Trenton's disappearance: http://209.85.141.104/search?q=cache:d6MXb11DICsJ:truecrimemagazine.com/articles/98+Mee+Kee+ong+Lee&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=16&gl=us&client=firefox-a

I hate Nancy Grace as much as the next person, but I do not see how she's culpable in this case. Let's not forget that the plaintiffs in this lawsuit (Melinda's parents) never even met Trenton. In 3 years, they couldn't find any time to come spend with their only grandchild. But now they have plenty of time for lawsuits, including a second lawsuit which they filed against Trenton's father, Joshua Duckett. Melinda tried to frame Joshua by sending herself threatening e-mails from his account, and he seems to be the only person who actually cares about finding Trenton. There is also a lot of evidence that Melinda was planning to kill herself well in advance of her appearance on Nancy Grace, and none of the suicide notes mention Grace or the show.

[aspergris]

47. imo, I can't imagine ANY case

where somebody who asked "aggressive" questions should be civilly responsible for somebody's suicide.

The idea is ridiculous.

[Catch22Dem]

12. Still waiting for Nancy to apologize to the Duke lacrosse players

She convicted them LONG before any actual evidence came around.

I'm sure she convicted 1996 Olympic Park bombing hero Richard Jewell too.

[notadmblnd]

13. Brings to mind Jenny Jones

What ever happened to her after she triggered the murder of a gay man who appeared on her show? The creep he was infatuated with killed him as a result of his homophobia and IIRC Jenny Jones was successfully sued.

[onehandle]

14. Good. "Guilty" or not, this will show what a tool she is.

Sadly, this will only be publicity for her, especially if she wins.

But, it will greatly reduce the odds that she would someday become a respected journalist or national news anchor.

If Katie Couric could do it, anyone could do it.

[rucognizant]

32. How??????

in the name of Harry. do you figure she could become a respected journalist ONE DAY? I mean I'm all for allowing people tha space to grow mature etc. but some people just don't go there and I think she is one of them.

[rpannier]

15. Nancy Grace the 21st century answer to geraldo rivera

All b*llsh*t all the time.

I hope she goes the way of jeeny jones.
Loses lawsuit and disappears from the airwaves

[Rebellious Republican]

16. You mean this Nancy Grace..................

:rofl:

[ooglymoogly]

28. Nancy you are some pig. nt

[Ian David]

17. You're going to court, FriEEeeeeennnNnnnd!

[fascisthunter]

19. Prosecutor: "Would You Have Grilled George Bush this Much?"

didn't think so....

[Vattel]

23. I hate to say it but

CNN is worse than Fox. All ill-informed opinion all the time.

[LittleClarkie]

30. At least with Fox you know what you're getting

And so does everyone else. They don't hide their bias.

I remember someone said once that it's not the Klansman who's in the white sheet that you have to worry about. You know where he stands. It's the Klansman in the business suit you have to worry about, because his agenda isn't up front and center.

[rhett o rick]

45. I agree. nm

[LiberalFighter]

24. Does this less than human being have a license to practice law?

If she does it needs to be revoked.

And every time she is in the newspaper, magazine, on the radio or television there should be a disclaimer that she is not an attorney and not qualified to give an opinion.

[emilyg]

25. Interesting

Allegations of prosecutorial misconduct
The Supreme Court of Georgia has twice commented on Grace's conduct as a prosecutor. First, in a 1994 heroin trafficking case, Bell v. State, the Court declared a mistrial, saying that Grace had "exceeded the wide latitude of closing argument" by drawing comparisons to unrelated murder and rape cases.<6>

In 1997, the court was more severe. Although its unanimous decision overturning the murder-arson conviction of businessman W. W. Carr in the death of his wife was caused primarily by other issues, the court made note of Grace's court actions, citing "inappropriate and illegal conduct in the
http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:8kZ71gXD5OcJ:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Grace+is+nancy+grace+an+attorney&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us&ie=UTF-8

[ooglymoogly]

31. Jeepers; no wonder she found her perfect home at CNN corporation. nt

[D23MIURG23]

33. I hope CNN decides to fight it.

If this story has a chance to sink into the public's imagination, then honerable judge nancy may end up taking her antics to public access.

[pretzel4gore]

34. let's give up

here's a story about blah blah blah- nancy grace is sacrificed for cnn, and ....meanwhile, the MEN who run cnn skip away likw rumsmell/rove/libby/gannon/asscrack/fliesher etc did. And no one notices. Does anyone here give a damn what happens to that soulless dipstick? She's a bushie- and bushie is going down. MEANWHILE, the punks who run cnn and made bush the Furor, are giggling into their mint juleps; and guffawing 'lookit yer gal run there Arthur! hi heels flashing and her flat arse waving...teeheehee'
CNN was once run by ted turner. he sold out for 9 billion. Bush has done trillions of dollars worth of damage, and it wasn't nancy grace in charge. Isaacson fled CNN a couple years ago, cuz he knew they were committing crimes. Shades of greenspan, tom ridge, john ascroft. The dope running CBS is named 'summmer redsting' or some damn thing. He's ann rand's brother

[snooper2]

51. That was the best rambling rant..

I've seen on DU in a long time :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

I caught something similar in GD-P about 4 months ago :rofl:

[BeatleBoot]

35. And Her Nostrils Flared

[trogdor]

53. LOL

[Imagevision]

36. Good, Nancy Grace was way over the top on that interview...

[DFW]

37. I'm not up enough on the case to be able to decide if this case has a leg to stand on

But just the thought of this vile woman standing as the defendant brings a smile
to my face, and probably to the faces of a lot of lacrosse players as well.

[Speciesamused]

38. I have been thinking about this since it happened. Thankfully

it is being addressed. When ever I see her strolling by the channels I think of the Duckett's.
She has a history of wrongly accusing people. The Duke Lacrosse Scandal,The Elizabeth Smart kidnapping.
The Supreme Court of Georgia has twice commented on Grace's conduct as a prosecutor.
Other courts have criticized Grace's conduct even while upholding convictions in her cases.
In a 2005 opinion, a panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals said Grace "played fast and loose"
with her ethical duties and failed to "fulfill her responsibilities" as a prosecutor.
SHE NEEDS TO GO! :nuke:

[kevinbgoode]

39. The network deserves to be sued - it doesn't adhere to ethical

standards of journalism - and when they decide to turn their "news" into entertainment and scandal, they no longer deserve the professional credentials associated with real journalists.

[Joanne98]

40. Good!

[DissedByBush]

41. I never hated Nancy Grace

Until the Duke Lacrosse scandal. She was horribly one-sided, and somehow didn't show up to work the day after the kids were vindicated.

The Daily Show of all places ripped her a new one on that.

[GoldenOldie]

44. Nancy Grace ain't no journalist.........

therefore this lawsuit would have no affect, or "severely chill," real journalists.

Nancy Grace grilled this poor woman just like she did when she actually worked at the profession she was educated for. She continually informs her audience on her outstanding performances as a prosecutor in her previous life.....apparently a life which didn't pay the big bucks like CNN. Having a law degree does not automatically qualify one to be a journalist......good example is Tim Russert and Ms. Nancy. These arrogant under performing lawyers, brilliant actors, have displaced the outstanding journalists, that once gave us honest, informed news, because they come cheap. I can't wait to see Ms. Nancy on the stand.....hope this is once case that is televised. If you have never seen an arrogant lawyer, on the opposite side of the table in their trial, you are in for a real treat.

[bowens43]

43. Good, this bottom feeding, blood sucking harpie

needs to be taken off the air. She makes her living by exploiting the tragedies in others lives.

[tidy_bowl]

49. Nancy Grace just gives me the creeps. nt

[oasis]

50. Good news. Nancy is America's #1 victim's advocate. (eom)

[AngryAmish]

52. All this means is that some discovery will take place

This was a motion to dismiss - the family files a lawsuit and CNN and N.G. responds not with a denial or admission of the allegation but with a motion saying that there is no legal right to sue. All the judge said that you can sue but I am making no ruling if the suit has sufficient facts to get a judgment.

Now, this is the interesting part. There is going to be discovery. CNN and NG will look to put the discovery under seal. I bet they can't. NG will have to give a deposition. Most likely the deposition will be videotaped. NG has a few choices in that deposition. If she goes ballistic in the deposition like she does no TV, then she may find herself in court on contempt charges. If she is meek and mild (like any sane person would be in a deposition) her reputation as a hard charger may be damaged.

She is in quite a pickle.