Nancy Grace Loses Fight to Ban Cameras From Deposition

(Jan. 27) -- Television host Nancy Grace has lost her attempt to keep cameras out of her deposition in a wrongful-death case, with a judge ruling that she can be videotaped.

Grace, a talk host on Headline News (HLN), is scheduled to be deposed Thursday morning in Atlanta regarding a lawsuit filed on behalf of 21-year-old Melinda Duckett, a Leesburg, Fla., woman who killed herself after being interviewed by Grace about the disappearance of her young son. Grace had sought to block the videotaping, and also to ensure that if taping did occur, the recording would not be released to the public.

Magistrate Gary R. Jones ruled that Grace can be taped but that lawyers representing Duckett's family could not share the recording with "any third party" or disclose any portion of the testimony without consent from the federal magistrate. Jones briefly addressed whether Grace would be at risk of harassment or embarrassment from being videotaped.

"The court need not ... determine whether the disclosure of Ms. Grace's videotape deposition to the public would result in the evils complained of by defendants," Jones wrote. "The plaintiffs in their response advise the court that they had agreed to a protective order."

Grace's attorneys had said there was a "risk" that individuals could "cut and splice" such videos to "manipulate" her words. Keeping the cameras out of the proceeding would have apparently prevented such things from occurring, her motion said.

"Public disclosure of the videotape of her deposition, outside of legitimate use to aid in the presentation of plaintiffs' case should this litigation reach trial, would serve no purpose but to further harass, embarrass and intimidate Ms. Grace and corrupt the jury pool," her motion said.

Duckett was the mother of Trenton Duckett, a 2-year-old boy who went missing on Aug. 27, 2006. According to Duckett, she put her son to bed that night, only to discover later that he was missing.

On Sept. 8, Grace questioned Duckett on national TV, during which she asked Duckett where she had been the day her son disappeared.

"Where were you? Why aren't you telling us where you were that day? You were the last person to be seen with him?" Grace inquired. Duckett responded that she was not going to put "those kind[s] of details out," to which Grace responded, "Ms. Duckett, you are not telling us for a reason. What is the reason? You refuse to give even the simplest facts of where you were with your son before he went missing. It is Day 12."

Grace then moved on to Dr. Lillian Glass, a psychologist, who said Duckett was "skirting around the issue."

Duckett did not give any other interviews following her appearance on HLN. She shot and killed herself the same day the pre-taped interview was scheduled to air. Less than two weeks later, the Leesburg Police Department named Duckett the prime suspect in Trenton's disappearance. The child remains missing.

In the wake of Duckett's suicide, her family filed a lawsuit against Grace, claiming that her intense questioning had pushed Duckett to commit suicide. The lawsuit states that Grace and her associates inflicted "pain, suffering, embarrassment, humiliation [and] intimidation" on Duckett, which was ultimately the "cause or the proximate cause of her death by suicide."

The family is seeking damages in excess of $15,000 for funeral expenses and loss of wages, in addition to punitive damages in an "amount sufficient" to punish the defendants.

Grace and CNN have both denied responsibility for Duckett's suicide.

Lawyers for Duckett's estate were unavailable for comment Wednesday. However, according to orlandosentinel.com, they felt the motion was "frivolous" and "untruthful," since they had previously agreed to keep videos of Grace's testimony confidential.

Calls made by AOL News to Grace's attorneys were directed to Janine Iamunno, senior director of public relations at CNN, who said, "We're not commenting at this point. We don't have a comment on it."

Grace's critics, however, are not keeping quiet on the latest development. Scott Maxwell, a blogger for the Orlando Sentinel, called her a "hypocrite extraordinaire" who will "exploit anyone" for ratings.

"What's the matter, Nancy? Are you afraid that some loudmouthed host might try to turn your own heart-wrenching tale into trage-tainment?" Maxwell wrote. "Are you worried that it might prompt a panel of screaming guests to blabber on and on about how awful everyone in the case is ... regardless of whether they have the facts? Hey, Nancy, welcome to the world that you not only helped create but have profited from for a long, long time."