Saturday, January 15, 2000
Case dismissed against TV host
Montel Williams named in suit
BY JANE PRENDERGAST
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COVINGTON — A mother cannot sue talk-show host Montel Williams because the son whose privacy she says the star invaded is dead.
A federal judge on Friday dismissed a lawsuit against Mr. Williams, saying Linda Mineer's attorneys were wrong in their attempts to link the host and the show with the suicide of Mrs. Mineer's son.
Christopher Mineer, 28, shot his fiancee, 24-year-old Carmen Moorhead, and then himself after Mr. Williams' Sept. 24, 1998, show. On that episode, a psychic said someone named Chris had information about the disappearance of Germantown teen Erica Fraysure.
The show bleeped out the name, but attorneys for Mrs. Mineer say viewers could see the woman mouth “Chris” and that everyone in the Germantown area then began to think Mr. Mineer was involved.
The psychic returned on another episode several months later. That time, Mr. Williams — trying to demonstrate her credibility — told the audience the story of Mr. Mineer's suicide, implying he killed himself because he knew police were onto him.
That, Mrs. Mineer's attorneys said, made Mr. Mineer out to be the killer.
Judge William O. Bertelsman disagreed. He said a person has to be alive to have his right to privacy violated. He also threw out the claim that the situation inflicted emotional distress on the mother.
Attorney David Drake said they would wait to read Judge Bertelsman's written opinion before deciding whether to appeal.
Mr. Mineer had been questioned about Miss Fraysure's October 1997 disappearance, but was ruled out as a suspect.
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