Sue Hartigan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
AMARILLO, Texas, April 11 (UPI) -- The beef defamation dispute
pitting
Oprah Winfrey and her show against Texas cattlemen has deepened after
the Texas Beef Group and other cattle companies joined an appeal against
a jury decision acquitting Winfrey and her show.
Cattleman Paul Engler filed an appeal March 27 after an Amarillo
jury
acquitted Winfrey, her show and a guest of allegations that their
comments defamed beef and cost the beef producers millions of dollars.
The civil trial ended in February.
Court documents show that Texas Beef Group, Perryton Feeders
Inc.,
Maltese Cross Cattle Co., Bravo Cattle Co., Alpha 3 Cattle Co. and
Dripping Springs Cattle Co. joined the appeal Friday in Fifth Circuit
Court of Appeals in New Orleans.
In June 1996, Engler sued in U.S. District Court, two months
after
Winfrey and a guest discussed the health threat from beef consumption.
The April l6, l996, show was broadcast during an international
scare
over so-called ``mad cow'' disease, which devastated cattle herds in the
United Kingdom.
The disease, which can affect the brain, poses a threat to
humans who
consume infected beef.
After a trial that turned hundreds of Panhandle residents into
stargazers out to catch a glimpse of Winfrey and her Hollywood guests,
jurors acquitted Winfrey and the other defendants.
--
Two rules in life:
1. Don't tell people everything you know.
2.
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