IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA
ATLANTA DIVISION
JOHN RAMSEY, PATSY RAMSEY and BURKE RAMSEY, a minor, by his next friends and natural parents, JOHN RAMSEY and PATSY RAMSEY,Plaintiffs,
vs.
FOX NEWS NETWORK, L.L.C., d/b/a Fox News Channel,Defendant.
CIVIL ACTION FILE
NO. _____________
COMPLAINT FOR DEFAMATION
COME NOW John Ramsey, Patsy Ramsey and Burke Ramsey, a minor, by his next friends and natural parents,John Ramsey and Patsy Ramsey,and respectfully state their Complaint for Defamation against Fox News Network, L.L.C., doing business as Fox News Channel as follows:
THE PARTIES, JURISDICTION AND VENUE
1. Plaintiffs John and Patsy Ramsey are married individuals who currently maintain residences in the State of Georgia and the State of Michigan.
2. John and Patsy Ramsey are citizens of the State of Michigan for purposes of diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332.
3. Plaintiff Burke Ramsey, age sixteen (16), is a minor child as defined by O.C.G.A. § 39-1-1.
4. John and Patsy Ramsey are the natural parents of Burke Ramsey and pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 9-11-17(c), bring this action against Defendant on behalf of Burke Ramsey as his next friends.
5. Burke Ramsey resides in the State of Michigan with his natural parents.
6. Burke Ramsey is a citizen of the State of Michigan for purposes of diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332.
7. Defendant Fox News Network, LLC, doing business as Fox News Channel (hereinafter "Fox News") is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of Delaware with its principal place of business being located at 1211 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10036.
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8. Fox News is a citizen of the State of Delaware for purposes of diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332.
9. This Court has original subject matter jurisdiction with respect to this action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332 as there exists complete diversity of citizenship between Plaintiffs and Defendant and the amount in controversy exceeds Seventy Five Thousand Dollars ($75,000.00), exclusive of interest and costs.
10. Fox News is subject to the jurisdiction of this Court pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 9-10-91(3) with proper venue pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1391.
11. Among other corporate activities,Fox News owns and operates a twenty-four (24) hour cable news channel known as Fox News Channel.
12. Fox News owns, operates and maintains an Internet website known as Fox News ONLINE and located at www.foxnews.com.
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13. Fox News maintains a broadcast studio and offices in Atlanta, Georgia from which remote interviews are conducted for broadcast around the United States.
14. Fox News regularly does or solicits business in the State of Georgia, engages in a persistent course of business conduct in the State of Georgia and derives substantial revenue from broadcasts reaching the State of Georgia.
15. At all times pertinent and relevant to the incidents described in this Complaint, Carol McKinley ("Ms. McKinley") was employed by Fox News as a television reporter and correspondent.
16. At all times pertinent and relevant to the incidents described in this Complaint, Ms. McKinley was acting within the scope of her employment relationship with Fox News.
17. The acts and omissions of Ms. McKinley, as an employee of Fox News, are imputed to Fox News as a matter of law.
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FACTUAL BACKGROUND
18. On the night of December 25, 1996 or during the early morning hours of December 26, 1996, while John, Patsy and Burke Ramsey were sleeping in their former home in Boulder, Colorado, an unknown assailant brutally murdered the Ramseys' six (6) year old daughter, JonBenet Ramsey.
19. At the time of his sister's murder, Burke Ramsey was nine (9) years old.
20. Since the date of her death, the murder of JonBenet Ramsey has been investigated by law enforcement officials in the State of Colorado, including members of the City of Boulder Police Department and the Boulder County District Attorney's Office.
21. The investigation of the murder of JonBenet Ramsey has included a grand jury investigation in Boulder County, Colorado, commencing in September of 1998 and ending in October of 1999 without criminal charges or indictments being brought against any individual.
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22. During the course of the murder investigation, evidence has been discovered and developed that links an intruder to the brutal murder of JonBenet Ramsey.
23. As of the date of the filing of this Complaint,the murderer of JonBenet Ramsey has not been discovered and no criminalcharges have been filed against any individual in connection with her tragic,untimely and brutal death.
24. John Ramsey did not murder his daughter, JonBenet.
25. Patsy Ramsey did not murder her daughter, JonBenet.
26. Burke Ramsey did not murder his sister, JonBenet.
THE FALSE AND DEFAMATORY FOX NEWS BROADCAST
27. On December 27, 2002, in connection with the sixth (6th) anniversary of the murder of JonBenet Ramsey, Fox News televised a news segment about the JonBenet Ramsey murder investigation on the Fox News Channel ("the Ramsey segment") .
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28. In the Ramsey segment, Ms. McKinley uttered the following false and defamatory statements of and concerning John, Patsy and Burke Ramsey:
"Detectives say they had good reason to suspect the Ramseys. The couple and JonBenet's nine-year¬old brother, Burke, were the only known people in the house the night she was killed. JonBenet had been strangled, bludgeoned and sexually assaulted, most likely from one of her mother's paintbrushes. The longest ransom note most experts have ever seen - three pages - was left behind. Whomever killed her spent a long time in the family home. Yet, there has never been any evidence to link an intruder to her brutal murder."
29. The gist of the statements uttered by Ms. McKinley in the Ramsey segment is that in all probability, one or more of the Ramseys murdered JonBenet.
30. The gist of the statements uttered by Ms. McKinley in the Ramsey segment is false and defamatory.
31. The statement uttered by Ms. McKinley that "there has never been any evidence to link an intruder to JonBenet's brutal murder is a false statement of fact and defamed the Ramsey
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family members known to be in the home the night of her murder, namely, John, Patsy and Burke Ramsey.
32. Substantial evidence gathered by law enforcement officers in the investigation of JonBenet Ramsey's death links an intruder to her brutal murder, including:
• Male DNA found on JonBenet's panties that is not the DNA of anyone in the Ramsey family and has not been sourced;
• Male DNA found under JonBenet's fingernails of both hands that is not the DNA of anyone in the Ramsey family and has not been sourced;
• Two pairs of marks on JonBenet's body which indicate that a stun gun was used to subject and torture her;
• Evidence of an intruder found in the Ramseys' basement, including a broken open window with a suitcase and broken glass under it, and a window-well to this window with signs of recent disturbance;
• Material from the window-well found in the room where JonBenet was discovered;
• Male pubic or ancillary hair and numerous fibers found on JonBenet's body, clothing and blanket which do not match anything in the Ramsey home and have not been sourced;
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• Unidentified shoe prints in the basement and unidentified palm prints on the door to the room where JonBenet was found, which do not match those of anyone in the Ramsey home and have not been sourced;
• JonBenet's autopsy findings, which indicate that she was sexually assaulted, strangled, tortured and then bludgeoned at or near the point of death physical evidence of the manner and timing of her death which does not fit the theory of an accidental killing by a parent or sibling followed by staging;
• The garrote and slipknots used to bind and kill JonBenet were sophisticated torture and bondage devices which no one in the Ramsey family had the knowledge to construct;
• Materials used to assault and strangle JonBenet the stun gun, nylon cord and duct tape - which necessarily existed but which were never owned by the Ramseys and were not found in their home;
• A missing portion of the paintbrush handle which was used to construct the garrote and may have been used to sexually assault JonBenet;
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• A three-page handwritten ransom note which law enforcement experts have not identified as being authored by any member of the Ramsey family;
• Missing pages from the pad on which the ransom note was written;
• The "butler's" door found open the morning of the murder, near which was found an unsourced baseball bat that had fibers on it consistent with those found in the basement where JonBenet's body was found; and
• Complete absence of evidence of motive or history indicating that John, Patsy or Burke Ramsey were capable of murdering JonBenet or staging an elaborate cover up of the crime.
NEGLIGENCE AND ACTUAL MALICE
33. John, Patsy and Burke Ramsey are not public figures for purposes of filing a defamation action.
34. Fox News and Ms. McKinley negligently broadcast the Ramsey segment with actual knowledge of the falsity of the statements made.
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35. The evidence linking an intruder to the brutal murder of JonBenet Ramsey was well known to Fox News and Ms. McKinley prior to the broadcast of the Ramsey segment as it had been the subject of print and broadcast media coverage prior to December 27, 2002.
36. Prior to December 27,2002, Ms. McKinley had actual and firsthand personal knowledge of the evidence linking an intruder to the brutal murder of JonBenet Ramsey by virtue of her discussions with Lou Smit, the veteran homicide detective formerly and currently employed by the Boulder County District Attorney's Office to work on the JonBenet Ramsey murder investigation.
37. Prior to December 27, 2002, Ms. McKinley personally viewed Detective Smit's PowerPoint presentation on the JonBenet Ramsey murder which demonstrated and displayed actual crime scene evidence and police forensic reports linking an intruder to the brutal murder.
38. Evidence linking an intruder to the brutal murder of JonBenet Ramsey was also a matter of public record and available
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for public review prior to December 27, 2002 in civil litigation captioned Robert Christian Wolf v. John Bennett Ramsey and Patricia Paugh Ramsey, Civil Action file No. 00-CIV-1187 (JEC) in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division.
39. On March 31, 2003 Judge Julie E. Carnes of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia entered an order granting summary judgment in favor of John and Patsy Ramsey in the Wolf v. Ramsey civil action, stating in pertinent part:
"Moreover, the weight of the evidence is more consistent with a theory that an intruder murdered JonBenet than it is with a theory that Mrs. Ramsey did so."
ORDER, Wolf v. John Bennett Ramsey and Patricia Paugh Ramsey, Civil Action File No. 00-CIV-1187 (JEC) at 90.
40. On April 7, 2003, Boulder District Attorney Mary T. Keenan issued a public statement in which she concurred with Judge Carnes' conclusion, stating in pertinent part:
"I have carefully reviewed the Order of United States District Court Judge Julie Carnes in the civil case of Wolf v. John Ramsey and Patricia Ramsey. I agree with the Court's conclusion that 'the weight of the evidence is more consistent with a theory that an intruder murdered JonBenet
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than it is with a theory that Mrs. Ramsey did so.'"
41. At the time of the broadcast on December 27, 2002, Fox News and Ms. McKinley had actual knowledge that the statement that "there has never been any evidence to link an intruder to JonBenet's brutal murder" was a false statement.
42. Fox News and Ms. McKinley have a multi-year history of reporting on the JonBenet Ramsey murder in a manner that is intentionally biased and slanted against the Ramsey family.
DAMAGES
43. As a direct and proximate result of the false and defamatory statements broadcast by Fox News, the reputations of John, Patsy and Burke Ramsey have suffered permanent injury throughout the United States and the world with the most significant damage to their reputations occurring in the state of Georgia where they resided in December of 2002.
44. As a direct and proximate result of the false and defamatory statements broadcast by Fox News, millions of members of the public were led to believe that John Ramsey was criminally
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involved in the murder of his daughter as a principal and/or co¬conspirator and/or as an accessory.
45. As a direct and proximate result of the false and defamatory statements broadcast by Fox News, millions of members of the public were led to believe that Patsy Ramsey was criminally involved in the murder of her daughter as a principal and/or co¬conspirator and/or as an accessory.
46. As a direct and proximate result of the false and defamatory statements broadcast by Fox News, millions of members of the public were led to believe that Burke Ramsey was criminally involved in the murder of his sister as a principal and/or co¬conspirator and/or as an accessory.
47. As a direct and proximate result of the false and defamatory statements broadcast by Fox News, John, Patsy and Burke Ramsey have suffered public hatred, contempt and ridicule.
48. As a direct and proximate result of the false and defamatory statements broadcast by Fox News, John, Patsy and Burke Ramsey have suffered stress, emotional distress, humiliation, anger and other mental pain and suffering.
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49. The conduct of Fox News demonstrates willful misconduct and that entire want of care that raises a presumption of conscious indifference to consequences.
50. John, Patsy and Burke Ramsey are entitled to an award of punitive damages from Fox News in order to punish and penalize Fox News and to deter it from repeating such unlawful conduct.
51. In accordance with the requirements of O.C.G.A. § 51-5-12, a formal retraction demand was served upon Fox News on January 6, 2003.
52. Despite being presented with overwhelming evidence that the statement that "there has never been any evidence to link an intruder to JonBenet's brutal murder" was a false statement, Fox News refused to publish the requested formal retraction and correction.
WHEREFORE, Plaintiffs, John Ramsey, Patsy Ramsey and Burke Ramsey, demand:
(a) Trial by jury;
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(b) That judgment be entered against Defendant, Fox News Network, L.L.C., awarding compensatory damages to each Plaintiff in an amount not less than Two Million Dollars ($2,000,000.00);
(c) That judgment be entered against Defendant, Fox News Network, L.L.C., for punitive damages in an amount not less than Ten Million Dollars ($10,000,000.00) to punish and penalize said Defendant and deter said Defendant from repeating its unlawful conduct; and
(d) That all costs of this action be assessed against Defendant.
L. LIN WOOD, P.C.
The Equitable Building
Suite 2140
100 Peachtree Street
Atlanta, Georgia 30303
(404) 522-1713
L. Lin Wood
Georgia Bar No. 774588
Katherine M. Ventulett
Ga. State Bar No. 727027
Attorneys for Plaintiffs
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