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Retrial set in Masson libel suit

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Retrial set in Masson libel suit 04/19/1994 CALIFORNIA -- In early April Judge Eugene Lynch of the U.S. District Court…

Retrial set in Masson libel suit

04/19/1994

CALIFORNIA — In early April Judge Eugene Lynch of the U.S. District Court in San Francisco scheduled a retrial for Sept. 29 in psychoanalyst Jeffrey Masson’s libel suit against Janet Malcolm of the New Yorker, the Associated Press reported.

In June 1993 a U.S. District Court jury found that five quotations in Malcolm’s 1983 article about Masson were fabricated and defamatory. The jury found that two of the quotations were published with actual malice, meaning knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard for the truth. The jury deadlocked on the issue of damages.

If the parties do not settle, the new trial will reconsider Malcolm’s liability for the five quotations as well as the question of damages.

(Masson v. Malcolm; Media Counsel: Gary Bostwick, Santa Monica)

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