Calif. attorney asks court to reconsider libel claim

The Reporter [Vacaville, CA] reports that attorney Malcolm Leader-Picone asked a superior court judge to reconsider his client’s libel claim on the theory of “mistake or excusable neglect of counsel” after he failed to submit a deposition from former Daily Republic Assistant City Editor Catherine Moy to the court.

Earlier this month, Superior Court Judge Donald Fretz granted a motion for summary judgment in favor of the Daily Republic, which had been sued for a series of articles about the business dealings of Bruce Portner, the owner of a local minor league baseball team.

Leader-Picone said that in her deposition, Moy raised concerns about a conflict of interest because the articles’ writer previously worked as a mascot for Portner’s baseball team and may have harbored ill-will toward him for not paying for his services.