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07-24-2001, 07:44 AM
Judge Dismisses Montefusco Suit
.c The Associated Press
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - A judge has tossed a lawsuit by former major-league pitcher John Montefusco against ESPN, ruling that being compared to O.J. Simpson is not defamation.
U.S. District Judge Anne E. Thompson found that the network's comparison was protected under the fair-reporting privilege, which allows the reporting of allegations in judicial proceedings.
Montefusco, National League Rookie of the Year with San Francisco in 1975, retired in 1985 and currently is a coach with the Somerset Patriots of the Atlantic League.
Thompson's ruling of July 16 was reported in the New Jersey Law Journal on Monday.
Montefusco sued over a March 19, 2000, broadcast on ESPN's ``SportsCenter 2000'' that compared his prosecution on domestic-violence charges to the trial of Simpson for the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson.
A month earlier, Montefusco had been sentenced to three years probation for trespass and simple assault against his former wife.
He had spent two years in jail awaiting trial on charges that he sexually assaulted the woman, Doris D. Montefusco, at her Marlboro home before being acquitted of the most serious charges in a 20-count indictment in November 1999. They divorced in 1995.
During the broadcast, an announcer paraphrased Doris Montefusco as saying ``that the only difference between this and the O.J. Simpson case is she's alive to talk about it. Nicole Simpson is not.''
Montefusco also raised the Simpson case, telling ESPN that ``because of the O.J. Simpson case, (judges) are afraid of domestic violence.'' That comment did not make the broadcast but was in a transcript submitted to Thompson, the newspaper reported.
ESPN lawyer Bruce S. Rosen argued that the report was accurate and that it noted Montefusco was cleared of the more serious charges.
Montefusco lawyer Phil H. Leone contended that a reasonable person would conclude Montefusco was guilty after watching the ESPN program.
``When you view my client next to O.J. Simpson, when you view Nicole Simpson next to Mrs. Montefusco, we submit that with that picture in mind, ESPN reported that Mr. Montefusco is guilty,'' Leone told the judge.
Later, Leone said that Montefusco objected because even though Simpson was found not guilty of murder, many people still believe Simpson was guilty. That perception was reinforced by the wrongful death judgment against Simpson, he told the newspaper.
Montefusco, 50, known as ``The Count,'' played for the Giants, Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres and New York Yankees during his 10-year major league career.
.c The Associated Press
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - A judge has tossed a lawsuit by former major-league pitcher John Montefusco against ESPN, ruling that being compared to O.J. Simpson is not defamation.
U.S. District Judge Anne E. Thompson found that the network's comparison was protected under the fair-reporting privilege, which allows the reporting of allegations in judicial proceedings.
Montefusco, National League Rookie of the Year with San Francisco in 1975, retired in 1985 and currently is a coach with the Somerset Patriots of the Atlantic League.
Thompson's ruling of July 16 was reported in the New Jersey Law Journal on Monday.
Montefusco sued over a March 19, 2000, broadcast on ESPN's ``SportsCenter 2000'' that compared his prosecution on domestic-violence charges to the trial of Simpson for the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson.
A month earlier, Montefusco had been sentenced to three years probation for trespass and simple assault against his former wife.
He had spent two years in jail awaiting trial on charges that he sexually assaulted the woman, Doris D. Montefusco, at her Marlboro home before being acquitted of the most serious charges in a 20-count indictment in November 1999. They divorced in 1995.
During the broadcast, an announcer paraphrased Doris Montefusco as saying ``that the only difference between this and the O.J. Simpson case is she's alive to talk about it. Nicole Simpson is not.''
Montefusco also raised the Simpson case, telling ESPN that ``because of the O.J. Simpson case, (judges) are afraid of domestic violence.'' That comment did not make the broadcast but was in a transcript submitted to Thompson, the newspaper reported.
ESPN lawyer Bruce S. Rosen argued that the report was accurate and that it noted Montefusco was cleared of the more serious charges.
Montefusco lawyer Phil H. Leone contended that a reasonable person would conclude Montefusco was guilty after watching the ESPN program.
``When you view my client next to O.J. Simpson, when you view Nicole Simpson next to Mrs. Montefusco, we submit that with that picture in mind, ESPN reported that Mr. Montefusco is guilty,'' Leone told the judge.
Later, Leone said that Montefusco objected because even though Simpson was found not guilty of murder, many people still believe Simpson was guilty. That perception was reinforced by the wrongful death judgment against Simpson, he told the newspaper.
Montefusco, 50, known as ``The Count,'' played for the Giants, Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres and New York Yankees during his 10-year major league career.