The lawsuit that put the tort in tortuous —- Carl Madison v. Renatta Frazier et al
—- has finally ended. On Oct. 10, the U.S. Court of Appeals denied
Madison’s petition for rehearing, thus concluding the quest of
Madison (former president of the local branch of the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored People) to punish Frazier (the former
Springfield police officer erroneously accused of failing to prevent the
rape of another cop’s daughter) for allegedly besmirching his
reputation in her self-published memoir about her experiences at SPD.
There’s still time for Madison to try the U.S.
Supreme Court, but his attorney, Stephen
Hedinger, says that’s improbable.
“It’s likely that this is the end of the road,” he says.
“Mr. Hedinger’s foray into defamation law
probably wasn’t his most lucrative venture,” opined
Frazier’s attorney, Don Craven. “See, I can be polite. It doesn’t happen very
often, but . . . .”
This article appears in Oct 16-22, 2008.
