THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 18, 1994 TAG: 9410180353
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Virginia News
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines
The grandparents of a child who was the focus of a highly publicized custody case do not have to prove actual malice in a defamation suit stemming from an ABC docudrama, a federal appeals court ruled Monday.
A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Vincent and Doris Foretich, grandparents of Hilary Foretich, are not ``public figures'' because they were dragged into the case involuntarily.
The couple sued ABC and the producers of a 1992 television movie because an actor portraying Hilary's mother, Dr. Elizabeth Morgan, apparently referred to them as the child's ``abusers.''
Morgan publicly accused her ex-husband, Dr. Eric Foretich, and his parents of sexually abusing Hilary. None of the Foretiches was ever charged with child abuse.
The case gained international attention when Morgan was jailed for 25 months for contempt of court for sending her daughter into hiding to block court-ordered visitations between father and child. Congress passed a special law in 1989 to free Morgan from prison.
A private investigator hired by Eric Foretich in 1990 found Hilary living with her maternal grandparents in Christchurch, New Zealand. The New Zealand Family Court later awarded Morgan full custody.
The federal appeals court ruling Monday upheld a decision by U.S. District Judge Albert V. Bryan Jr., who found that Vincent and Doris Foretich merely responded to public accusations against them and did not seek to influence the outcome of the custody battle.
The ruling clears the way for setting a trial date on the defamation suit.
``This ruling is obviously critical in any libel case,'' said MacKenzie Canter III of Washington, attorney for the Foretiches. ``The decision of whether the plaintiff is a public figure or private figure is crucial to the evidentiary issues and how the case will be tried.''
Paul Taskier, lawyer for ABC, and spokesmen for the network were out of their offices late Monday afternoon and did not immediately return messages.
ABC sought to have the Foretiches declared ``public figures'' so the higher standard of actual malice would have to be proven. The network claimed the grandparents voluntarily became part of a public controversy by publicly criticizing Morgan, speaking with news reporters and appearing on ``Donahue'' and other television shows.
KEYWORDS: LAWSUIT APPEAL by CNB