Nevada Court Overturns Stuart Libel Ruling

In a unanimous decision, the Nevada State Supreme Court has overturned the $3-million libel judgment levied against Barricade Books and its publisher, Lyle Stuart, and remanded the case to a lower court for a new trial. The ruling was originally levied against Stuart in 1997 after the courts found that he had libeled Las Vegas casino owner Steve Wynn in the catalogue copy for the book Running Scared: The Life and Treacherous Times of Las Vegas Casino King Steve Wynn by John L. Smith.

Barricade Books has been operating under bankruptcy protection since the ruling was handed down, and Stuart told PW the press "will be coming out of bankruptcy."

Stuart's attorney David Blasband of the law firm Deutsch, Klagsbrun and Blasband, told PW that the court's decision to overturn the ruling was based on errors committed by the trial judge in his instructions to the jury. Jonell Thomas, Stuart's Nevada lawyer, told PW that she would know in about three weeks whether Wynn will petition for a rehearing of the state supreme court ruling, move forward with a new trial or perhaps settle. "It's up to Wynn to decide whether he wants to go through the Sturm und Drang of another trial," said Blasband.

Stuart also told PW that the libel decision has been overturned just as a new edition of Running Scared is being released by Four Walls Eight Windows. The book is scheduled to be released in March.