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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The Utah Supreme Court will consider whether a couple identified in a lawsuit as being members of a polygamous group were defamed.
Nevin and Denise Pratt want the court to overturn rulings by a 2nd District judge and the Utah Court of Appeals that barred them from seeking damages over a lawsuit filed and made public by a former member of the Latter Day Church of Christ, also known as the Davis County Cooperative Society, which practices polygamy and has more than 1,000 members.
In 2003, Mary Ann Kingston Nichols filed a lawsuit saying she should receive $110 million in damages due to a forced polygamous marriage to an uncle at age 16 and a subsequent beating she received when she tried to leave him.
The lawsuit named 242 people as members of the polygamous group and claimed they shared responsibility for what happened to Nichols.
The Pratts were named in that lawsuit and contend they are not members of the Davis County Cooperative Society.
The lower courts ruled the Pratts' claim was blocked by the judicial publication privilege, which protects reporting on court proceedings. They also cited the group defamation rule, which governs whether individuals can claim defamation when named as part of a large group.
Mark Hansen, the Pratts' attorney, said Wednesday handing out copies of the complaint to news organizations amounted to "excessive publication" that should not be protected by judicial privilege.
John Morris, Nichols' attorney, said the lower courts ruled correctly that statements made at Nichols' press conference did not refer specifically to the Pratts and thus the couple has no grounds to claim defamation.
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Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune, http://www.sltrib.com
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
