Fill out this form to email this article to a friend
Settlement reached between Times and man who filed libel suit about column
The St. Petersburg Times agrees to pay $55,000 to settle the case.
By TIMES STAFF WRITER
Published August 4, 2006
ST. PETERSBURG - The St. Petersburg Times has agreed to pay $55,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a man who said he was libeled in a 2001 opinion column. The lawsuit stems from an Aug. 15, 2001, column by Bill Maxwell about a custody case involving Gary Minda, then a visiting professor at Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport, and Theresa Noelle Ponce. Minda and Ponce had a child born in 1999. Shortly after it appeared, the Times published a correction about various facts in the column. Minda's 2002 lawsuit contended the column "falsely suggested that Mr. Minda used his alleged legal connections and financial means to overpower and intimidate." The Times removed the column from its Web site. In the settlement, Maxwell agreed not to write future columns about Minda and the newspaper agreed not to assign him to do so. Both sides said they were pleased with the settlement, and praised each other for their efforts to resolve the matter.
[Last modified August 4, 2006, 01:13:06]
Share your thoughts on this story
|
News
Fifty years ago, they were screwed-up kids sent to the Florida School for Boys to be straightened out. But now they are screwed-up men, scarred by the whippings they endured. Read the story and see a video and portrait gallery.
Print
Email story
Comment
Email editor
