By D. E. Smoot
Phoenix Staff Writer
September 29, 2007 01:18 am
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An Oklahoma prosecutor and a 37-year career law enforcement officer claim their reputations were ruined by three books published nearly a year ago that profile two Ada homicide cases.
Those authors, their book publishers and others were the target of a civil conspiracy lawsuit filed Friday in the U.S. District Court of Eastern Oklahoma. The lawsuit alleges defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress and seeks damages of more than $75,000.
John Grisham’s book “The Innocent Man,” his first nonfiction work, explores the investigation of the 1982 murder of Debbie Sue Carter, a waitress at an Ada restaurant. The book also documents the subsequent prosecution and conviction of Dennis Fritz and Ron Williamson in connection with Carter’s death.
Both men were convicted in 1988. Williamson, who was sentenced to death, and Fritz, who was handed a life sentence, were exonerated 11 years later through DNA evidence.
Innocence Project lawyer Barry Scheck represented Fritz in his bid to overturn the life sentence. Scheck is named in the lawsuit, which was filed by Tulsa lawyer Gary Richardson.
Telephone calls seeking comments from Grisham’s publisher, the Innocence Project — co-founded by Scheck — and others were not returned Friday.
Eric Ferrero, a spokesman for the Innocence Project, told the Associated Press that “the facts of Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz’s tragic, wrongful convictions speak for themselves.”
Grisham is a board member of the Innocence Project, an organization to exonerate wrongfully convicted people through DNA testing.
Richardson represents William N. Peterson and Gary L. Rogers. According to Richardson, Peterson was elected in 1980 as district attorney for Pontotoc, Seminole and Hughes counties. Rogers, a former Shawnee police officer and Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agent, investigated the Carter homicide.
“The careers of these two men have been severely impacted,” Richardson said of harm he says his clients suffered as a result of Grisham’s book and two others published in October 2006.
During a news conference Richardson said Grisham and the other authors lack protections afforded to journalists in libel lawsuits. Mark Hanebutt, a journalism professor and lawyer who teaches media law at the University of Central Oklahoma, disputes that.
“I suspect that because he (Grisham) is a published nonfiction writer, the court would treat him as a disseminator of factual information,” Hanebutt said. “In that scenario — particularly since it (the book) is already out there — I think the court would allow Grisham to invoke the same protections as a journalist.”
To prove actual malice, a plaintiff must prove a journalist acted with reckless disregard of the truth. Richardson alleges in the civil complaint that Grisham and other defendants wrote and published three books to sway public opinion against the death penalty. In doing so, Richardson said, the defendants defamed and libeled his clients.
The lawsuit filed Friday also names Random House Inc. and two of its subsidiaries — Doubleday Dell Publishing Group and Broadway Books — Robert Mayer, James C. Riordan and Seven Locks Press Inc., alleges the defendants conspired to launch a defamatory attack against Peterson and Rogers.
The campaign, Richardson said, was launched with the publication of three books: Fritz’ “Journey Toward Justice,” Grisham’s “The Innocent Man,” and Mayer’s “The Dreams of Ada,” which was a republished book updated with comments from Mayer and Grisham.
The civil complaint filed by Richardson also alleges Grisham made public statements characterizing Peterson as “the No. 1 bad guy.”
“Somewhere along the line, he (Grisham) forgot he was writing nonfiction,” Richardson said.
It may be a month or more before there are any further developments in this case. Richardson said the complaint will be served along with summonses to the defendants.
Reach D.E. Smoot at 918-684-2903 or Click Here to Send Email
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Photos
Gary Richardson discusses the lawsuit Friday.