LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Attorneys for the Dixie Chicks deny allegations the country music group defamed the stepfather of a boy who was murdered in 1993, saying statements the singers made about the criminal case against the child's convicted killers were an exercise of free speech under the First Amendment.
Lawyers John E. Moore of Little Rock and Dan D. Davison of Dallas said in court documents that the
statements also were part of an official report or public meeting and constituted protected comment on matters of public interest.
Terry Hobbs, the stepfather of Steve Branch, one of three 8-year-old boys killed 15 years ago, filed the lawsuit in Pulaski County Circuit Court last year.
Hobbs claimed he was defamed when Dixie Chicks singer Natalie Maines spoke out at a 2007 rally at Little Rock for the three men convicted of the slayings and
alleged that Hobbs was instead involved in the killings.
Hobbs also cited a Nov. 26, 2007, letter posted on the group's Web site about "new information" in the case, including DNA tests showing that one
of Hobbs' hairs was found on one of the victims.
The two lawyers for the music group said the singers' statements were made in good faith, without
malice, against a man who has become a public figure because of the notoriety of the criminal case. Under the law, a public figure has a higher burden of proof
and must show that defamatory statements were made with "actual malice," either known to be false or issued with reckless disregard for the truth.
Last week, the case was moved to federal court after Moore and Davison filed notice, saying federal jurisdiction applies because the parties are from different
states and because the amount of damages being sought is likely to exceed $75,000. U.S. District Judge Brian S. Miller was assigned the case.
Branch, Christopher Byers and Michael Moore were found dead in a ditch near their neighborhoods.
Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, then teenagers, were convicted of the killings. Echols is on death row; Baldwin and Misskelley are serving
prison sentences. To supporters who say the three men were wrongly convicted, the men are known as "The West Memphis Three."
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