SAN FERNANDO VALLEY : Ward Loses Defamation Case Against Antonovich
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Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich on Friday won his third victory over former Supervisor Baxter Ward, this time in the courtroom.
A San Fernando Superior Court jury took less than three hours to decide that Antonovich did not defame Ward during the 1988 election when Antonovich charged that Ward had removed or destroyed 5th District office files eight years earlier.
When asked by the court clerk, the jury members stated that they did not believe that Antonovich knew his statements were false or that he was making the claims with reckless disregard for the truth. After the verdict was read, Antonovich walked across the courtroom and shook Ward’s hand, but the two men did not exchange words.
Ward, who was unseated by Antonovich in 1980 and defeated in a rematch in 1988, would comment only briefly outside the courtroom, saying he was disappointed.
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