LOS ANGELES, Sept. 9 2004 LAWFUEL – Best for law news, legal news, law, attorneys, law research Plaintiff Rhonda Miller offered to
drop her right to appeal after losing her defamation case against Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger. Schwarzenegger’s victory came in a July 29, 2004 Court
ruling, in which he won his motion to dismiss and was granted the right to
recover attorneys’ fees and costs from Miller. At Miller’s request,
Schwarzenegger agreed to forego collecting legal fees and costs from Miller,
and she agreed to drop her right to appeal the decision. The settlement also
covered the Californians for Schwarzenegger campaign and Sean Walsh, who had
also prevailed against Miller on a similar motion.
Miller’s suit against Schwarzenegger, Walsh and CFS arose from her claim
that she was defamed by an email that had been sent out by the campaign in
response to a press conference held by Miller with attorney Gloria Allred the
day before the historic recall election.
In his ruling granting the Special Motions to Strike Miller’s lawsuit,
Hon. Robert L. Hess wrote: “As to Mr. Schwarzenegger, plaintiff’s showing is
essentially no showing at all. The evidence before the Court establishes that
Mr. Schwarzenegger neither knew of nor approved the text of the disputed
E-mail … Even were plaintiff not required to demonstrate actual malice by
clear and convincing evidence, her presentation would not satisfy the
requirement that she show a probability of success on the merits as to
Mr. Schwarzenegger.”
The ruling continued: “Mr. Schwarzenegger argues that he is not liable for
any libel or slander by his campaign committee unless he ‘willfully and
knowingly’ directed or permitted it, which he did not. Indeed, this
interpretation comports with the Court’s reading of the law.”
