Kevin Castel: Last News

A federal court on Wednesday granted Nexstar’s motion to dismiss DirecTV’s antitrust claims.

defamation lawsuit by best-selling author and former Manhattan prosecutor Linda Fairstein over her portrayal in a 2019 crime drama about the Central Park Five case.US District Judge Kevin Castel on Tuesday said Fairstein plausibly alleged that Netflix, director Ava DuVernay and writer-producer Attica Locke acted with actual malice as to five scenes in “When They See Us.”The series dramatized the story of five black and Hispanic teenagers who spent five to 13 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted in the April 1989 rape of a white jogger in Central Park. Another man confessed in 2002.Castel in a 67-page decision found evidence that in depicting Fairstein as a villain emblematic of broader problems in criminal justice, the defendants “reverse-engineered plot points to attribute actions, responsibilities and viewpoints to Fairstein that were not hers and are unsupported in defendants’ substantial body of research materials.”The Manhattan judge said jurors should decide whether there was “clear and convincing evidence that defendants were recklessly indifferent to the truth.”Netflix, based in Los Gatos, Calif., and the defendants’ lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Linda Fairstein over her portrayal as a racist and unethical villain in “When They See Us,” a 2019 series about the Central Park Five case.US District Judge Kevin Castel in Manhattan said Fairstein had plausibly alleged defamation as to five scenes, including that she withheld evidence, coerced confessions and directed a racially discriminatory police roundup of young men in Harlem.“The average viewer could conclude that these scenes have a basis in fact and do not merely reflect the creators’ opinions about controversial historical events,” the judge wrote.Castel said Fairstein could also pursue defamation claims against both the series’ director, Ava DuVernay, and against Attica Locke, a writer and producer, and civil conspiracy claims