Posted on 03/23/2004 12:58:47 PM PST by ambrose
Schwarzenegger Won't Be Deposed in Defamation Suit
Tue Mar 23,11:43 AM ET
By Gina Keating
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Lawyers for a woman who accuses California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (news - web sites) of sexually assaulting her and then implying she was a prostitute were barred on Monday from personally questioning the "Terminator" actor in the woman's defamation lawsuit.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert Hess ruled that lawyers for movie stuntwoman Rhonda Miller can submit written questions to the governor asking what he knew about Miller and whether he had a policy for responding to allegations of sexual misconduct that dogged his campaign last fall.
Hess said he could reconsider his order if Miller's lawyers find evidence that Schwarzenegger was involved in sending a potentially defamatory e-mail about Miller to reporters.
"We at least have a start and we're going to be able to ask the governor questions," Miller's attorney, Gloria Allred, told reporters outside court.
The governor's lawyer, Martin Singer, said the case "never should have been filed," and he accused Allred of having "an agenda."
"This is not a typical lawsuit," Singer said after the 90-minute hearing. "It does not deal with a redress of issues ... it's about why Gov. Schwarzenegger got elected and about being upset that he was elected."
Miller, 53, went public days before the Oct. 7 election with allegations that Schwarzenegger sexually assaulted her twice on film sets -- complaints she filed on Feb. 1, 2003 with the Screen Actors Guild (news - web sites), her attorney Gloria Allred said.
She accused Schwarzenegger of pulling up her shirt and sucking her breasts and taking photos of them during filming of "Terminator 2" in 1991, and of fondling her breasts on the set of "True Lies" in 1994.
In her libel lawsuit, Miller accuses Schwarzenegger and his aides of defaming her by directing reporters via e-mail to the criminal record of an accused prostitute named Rhonda Miller posted on a Los Angeles County Web site.
Allred said Schwarzenegger campaign aide Sean Walsh, and possibly the governor, knew that the woman on the Web site was not Miller but wanted to salvage his chances at the polls.
Singer said campaign staff had just hours to react to Miller's accusations and could not find enough information about her to avoid the error.
He added that Schwarzenegger "did not know anything about this e-mail." Attorney Neil Shapiro, who represents Walsh, agreed that the former campaign spokesman, and not the governor, was most qualified to answer questions about the incident.
"This case is about one man's thought processes for about six hours on Oct. 6," Shapiro said. "The only person who knows that is Sean Walsh."
Hess was expected to rule next month on whether to dismiss the case against Walsh and Schwarzenegger on the grounds that it violates their free speech guarantees and a state's election law barring liability for some campaign activities.
I think Arnold has better taste than THAT.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.