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Updated: Jun 19th, 2005 - 20:05:13 |
SANFORD -- Seminole County GOP Chairman Jim Stelling went to court Tuesday,
hoping to restore his name.
Stelling said it had been smeared by a former
Seminole GOP executive committee member who sent a letter to party executives
statewide that in part falsely accused Stelling of having been married six
times, he alleged in a defamation suit.
Stelling says he has been married
five times.
The trial of Stelling v. Nancy Goettman, the letter writer,
began and ended Tuesday, lasting just half a day. Circuit Judge Clayton Simmons
now must decide whether Stelling's reputation was damaged and, if so, by how
much.
Stelling sued Goettman two years ago, alleging the letter ruined
his shot at becoming chairman of Florida's Republican Party.
He was days
away from a statewide election and was convinced he was the favorite. Goettman
then mailed her letter, and Stelling lost by a slim margin.
Tuesday's
trial was awkward. Goettman, who lives in San Antonio, served as her own lawyer.
She was slow and sometimes befuddled.
When she tried to ask Stelling how
many times he'd been to Rachel's, a strip club, the judge gently cut her off,
saying that was not relevant.
It was something Simmons did repeatedly.
"We're not talking about that anymore," he would say. "Ask another
question."
Two of Stelling's wives were in the courtroom, including his
current wife, Lorayne.
Goettman asked Stelling the most important
question: Five wives, six wives, when the number gets that high, does being off
by one really matter?
"I beg your pardon," Stelling said. "Of course I
don't agree with that statement."
Yes, he has been married a lot of
times, he said, and no, he's not proud of that. But "no matter how many times
I've been married, that has no impact on how I would lead."
The letter's
references to all those wives is not what bothered him most, Stelling
said.
It's the implication that he does not have high moral
standards.
"That's unconscionable," he said. "I have four children and
eight grandchildren that I love dearly. I believe in family
values."
Goettman testified that she sent the letter because she wanted
other Florida Republicans to know about Stelling's flaws.
"I did what I
thought was right," she said.
It's not clear when the judge will make
his decision.
Stelling's attorney, Michael Gotschall, asked that Goettman
be barred from sending more letters.
Seminole County Watch.com
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