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Judge dismisses libel suit by wife of Gary Condit
By: Associated Press | ∞
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- A federal judge has dismissed a libel lawsuit filed last year by the wife of former California Rep. Gary Condit against USA Today and its parent company, Gannett Co.
U.S. District Judge Bruce Black ruled this week that there is no jurisdiction to hear the case in New Mexico.
The lawsuit was filed in New Mexico because of state law that lets plaintiffs sue up to three years after a published report. It was in response to a July 27, 2001, USA Today article about the disappearance of Chandra Levy, a federal intern whose remains were found in a Washington park the following May.
Condit is not considered a suspect in Levy's unsolved death, but police sources have told The Associated Press that the former California Democratic congressman told investigators he had been having an affair with Levy.
USA Today reported that Carolyn Condit had spoken with Levy on the telephone and confronted her. The paper attributed the report to a National Enquirer story that cited confidential sources.
Carolyn Condit said she never spoke with or met Levy, whose skeletal remains were found in a Washington park in May 2002. Washington police said there was no truth to the Enquirer report.
In his 16-page opinion, Black said Carolyn Condit offered no evidence the allegedly libelous article was circulated in New Mexico, since only the first edition of USA Today was distributed in the state and the story appeared only in the second edition.
The judge also wrote that Carolyn Condit's interest in litigation here "appears to be a belief that this forum may offer more generous statute of limitations. Indeed, it is possible that New Mexico may be the only jurisdiction in which Condit's suit is not time-barred."
In dismissing the case, Black said the case's lack of connection with New Mexico was striking.
"We're pleased the court dismissed the complaint," USA Today spokesman Steven Anderson said Thursday.
Carolyn Condit also had filed libel actions against two Australian newspapers, but those were voluntarily dismissed in April.
In July 2003, she settled a libel lawsuit against the Enquirer.
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