Ex-Marine Sues Over Portrayal in Kerry Film
By KATE ZERNIKE
October 19, 2004
VETERANS
nytimes.com
A veteran shown in a new film critical of Senator John Kerry's anti-Vietnam War activism is suing the producer of the movie, saying it libels him by deceptively editing his statements.
The suit, filed yesterday in Philadelphia, involves the film "Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal," which accuses Mr. Kerry, the Democratic nominee for president, and the antiwar group he joined of making up the accounts of wartime atrocities that Mr. Kerry later talked about in his 1971 Senate testimony. The Sinclair Broadcast Group has asked its 62 television stations to show the movie this week.
The veteran who brought the suit, Kenneth J. Campbell, is shown saying he was not at one of the massacres later discussed, and asking another veteran whether he could produce accounts of the massacre.
A lawyer for Mr. Campbell, a decorated marine who is now a professor at the University of Delaware, said the film was edited to take out footage in which Mr. Campbell made clear that only soldiers who witnessed the atrocities firsthand would be allowed to testify at the hearings, and footage in which he recounted his military superiors ordering him to kill innocent civilians.
"It edits little clips to make it look like they're just making up instances," said the lawyer, David Kairys, who said Mr. Campbell was not connected with the Kerry campaign.
The film's producer, Carlton A. Sherwood, said in a statement that the complaint was "completely baseless." He said Mr. Campbell was not identified by name in the film.
Lawyers for Mr. Campbell sent letters to Sinclair and to a theater near Philadelphia that was planning to show the film on Tuesday, warning them that the film was defamatory. The theater canceled the showing, citing "pending litigation."
Meanwhile, Jonathan Lieberman, the Washington bureau chief for Sinclair's news division, told CNN last night that he had been fired for publicly objecting to the decision to present the film as news, not commentary, and to run it so close to the election.
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