DATE: Wednesday, May 21, 1997               TAG: 9705210546

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B9   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 

DATELINE: RALEIGH                           LENGTH:   52 lines

COURT SIDES WITH ROBERTSON IN DEFAMATION CASE APPEAL A FORMER EMPLOYEE'S REQUEST FOR BUSINESS INFORMATION WAS TOO BROAD, JUDGE SAYS.

A judge went too far in ruling that religious broadcaster Pat Robertson must reveal details of his business to a couple suing for defamation, the state Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday.

The requests seeking information about Robertson and his affiliates' ``worldwide activities and affiliations rather than their contacts with North Carolina are clearly oppressive and overbroad,'' Judge Mark D. Martin wrote.

The ruling is the latest chapter in a series of legal and public-relations battles in which Robertson and the former head of his direct-marketing company blame each other for tarnishing the other's reputation. In 1995, Mark and Andrea Peterson of Clemmons sued Robertson, his Virginia-based Christian Broadcasting Network Inc., five members of CBN's board of directors, and Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed.

Mark Peterson is a former president of American Sales Corp., a company founded by Robertson that sold discount coupon books and personal care products. Robertson fired Peterson in late 1992 after about a year on the job. The Petersons say in their lawsuit that Robertson and his supporters spread lies about Peterson after his firing and that Robertson threatened to physically harm or kill Peterson.

According to the lawsuit, Andrea Peterson taped a phone call from Robertson in September 1994 in which Robertson made a veiled threat to her husband by comparing him to a wild stallion. ``If a stallion bites and kicks he might break his leg. I've had horses break their legs. When a horse breaks his leg they put him to sleep,'' court papers quote Robertson as saying.

Robertson and the other defendants deny threatening the Petersons. They want the lawsuit dismissed.

In January 1996, Forsyth County Superior Court Judge L. Todd Burke ordered Robertson and the others to reveal virtually all relationships they have had with any company, trust, club, church or association. All three judges on the appeals court panel agreed in reversing the judge's order.

Since the Petersons filed their suit, Robertson responded with a $1.35 million libel suit against Mark Peterson. The lawsuit, filed in 1995, accused Mark Peterson of defaming Robertson in two media interviews. Peterson disparaged Robertson during interviews with Newsweek and ABC's ``PrimeTime Live.''

Robertson's suit cited Peterson's remarks in a story in Newsweek in 1994. The story discussed at length the mingling of Robertson's religious ministry and for-profit businesses, especially American Sales and KaloVita. KEYWORDS: LAWSUIT PAT ROBERTSON

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu