Seattle man loses federal appeal in bombing defamation case

Friday, February 18th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

DENVER (AP) -- A Seattle filmmaker who was the target of an Internet hoax after the Oklahoma City bombing has lost another battle in federal court. The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last month upheld a district court ruling dismissing Kenneth M. Zeran's defamation claims against an Oklahoma City radio station. The appeals court published its decision Thursday on its own motion.

Zeran filed a lawsuit against Diamond Broadcasting Inc., claiming radio station KRXO-FM wrongly accused him of offering offensive T-shirts about the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. The bombing left 168 people dead and hundreds more injured.

An America Online posting under the screen name "Ken ZZ03" offered "Naughty Oklahoma T-shirts" for sale. The ad touted shirts with slogans such as "Visit Oklahoma -- it's a blast," and listed Zeran's phone number even though he had nothing to do with the Internet posting. Zeran, an accomplished artist, photographer and filmmaker, said he received death threats and other harassing calls after two KRXO disc jockeys gave out his business phone number on the air in May 1995.

The radio station later told listeners Zeran was not associated with the ad, and U.S. District Judge Ralph Thompson in Oklahoma City issued a summary judgment in favor of Diamond Broadcasting. The federal appeals court agreed with Thompson, saying Zeran did not suffer an injury to his reputation. "(Zeran) has not shown that any person thinks less of him as a result of the broadcast," the court wrote in its Jan. 28 decision. "There was no evidence that anyone who called his number in response to the postings or the broadcast even knew his last name."

The appeals court also agreed with the district court's ruling that there was no proof that KRXO's employees knew the Internet ad was false or that they acted recklessly in checking it out. Zeran had sought more than $50,000 in compensation but could have to pay court costs because his lawsuit was dismissed. The appeals court reversed the district court's ruling that prevented Diamond Broadcasting from recovering costs of the litigation. The U.S. Supreme Court in 1998 ruled that America Online could not be held liable for the ad that caused headaches for Zeran.