Grace/CNN Lawsuit

MELINDA DUCKETT LAWSUIT

Duckett suit heads to federal courtroom
TV host Nancy Grace and CNN requested the move outside the county. It will be heard in Ocala.Stephen Hudak Sentinel Staff Writer

Posted December 30, 2006

TAVARES -- A lawsuit accusing TV talk-show host Nancy Grace of pushing the mother of a missing toddler to suicide has been moved from Circuit Court in Lake County to federal court in Ocala.
Lawyers for Grace and Atlanta-based CNN, which airs her crime-of-the-day show on Headline News Network, sought the transfer to federal court because they are headquartered in different states.
The lawsuit involves a Sept. 7, fist-pounding interview of Melinda Duckett during which ex-prosecutor Grace grilled the young mother about her 2-year-old son's reported disappearance from her Leesburg apartment.
Duckett committed suicide at her grandparents' home in The Villages the next day.Last seen Aug. 27, Trenton Duckett remains missing despite ongoing investigations involving Leesburg police, Marion County deputy sheriffs, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the FBI.
The lawsuit, which alleges wrongful death and intentional infliction of emotional distress, was filed by South Florida lawyers on behalf of Melinda Duckett's estate and her adoptive parents, Beth and William (Jerry) Eubank of Lockport, N.Y.
It seeks unspecified punitive damages from the network and a court order to stop Grace's show from re-airing the interview with the young mother.
The Eubanks say Grace and her staff tricked Melinda Duckett into appearing on the show.Trenton's father, Joshua Duckett, who was estranged from his wife, also was named in the lawsuit, though he had filed a response in Circuit Court demanding that he be dropped from the case.
The Eubanks want a court-ordered accounting of the Trenton Duckett Family Charitable Trust Fund, which Joshua Duckett established to solicit donations to help him search for his missing son.
Their lawsuit said they "seek to ensure that any and all funds donated for locating [Trenton] are used for said purposes and not for any ill-conceived or improper purpose . . ."
The fund is run through helpfindtrenton.com.
Rules of civil procedure allow a federal court to take jurisdiction of a lawsuit filed in a state court when the opposing parties reside or are headquartered in different states.
The provision is rooted in fears that a state court might be biased in favor of the litigant from its own state.
When the Eubanks filed the lawsuit in Lake County, they were seeking damages "in excess of $15,000," a statutory threshold to have a dispute heard by a Circuit Court judge or jury.
CNN lawyers said in the federal-court filing that "it is facially apparent . . . that the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000," the statutory threshold to have a dispute decided by a federal court judge or jury.

Stephen Hudak can be reached at shudak@orlandosentinel.com
or 352-742-5930.
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