By Sean Fernandez
Two months ago, Laurie Fine and her counsel, Mr. Lawrence Fisher, called a press conference to announce that Fine would file a libel lawsuit against ESPN. Today, The Worldwide Leader in Sports sent a little bit of rebuttal back their way, filing a motion to dismiss one aspect of the lawsuit.
In her original lawsuit, Fine states that ESPN, and Mark Schwarz/Arty Berko ruined her reputation by publishing defamatory information that ruined her reputation and had a significantly negative impact on her life.
ESPN’s motion to dismiss the suit only deals with one out of the six parts. They claim that their reporting was accurate and fair at all times, and they made the motion to dismiss Fine’s claim of libel on the following statement.
In the affidavit, Bobby Davis, a former ball boy with the men’s team, says he was present on several occasions with basketball players when he heard them speaking of having sex with Laurie Fine. Davis said players joked about it and it seemed to be an openly known fact that Laurie Fine had sex with basketball players.
Their argument continues with this quote.
“The purpose of the privilege is precisely to enable journalists to report on official actions and legal proceedings without fear that they will be held liable in defamation for repeating allegations or statements by participants in those actions that are alleged to be false”.
From my understanding of the report, unless Laurie Fine can come up with proof that she didn’t have sexual relations with any SU basketball players, ESPN’s motion to remove that statement will be granted.
The official hearing for this motion will be held in an Albany Courthouse on 9/7, in front of Judge Lawrence E. Kahn.
You can read the whole motion here.
*From Syracuse.com
