Amarillo, TX - A U.S. judge on Tuesday threw out part of a lawsuit filed against television talk show host Oprah Winfrey by Texas cattlemen who charged that a 1996 Winfrey episode on mad cow disease drove down beef prices. U.S. District Judge Mary Lou Robinson ruled that the suit, now in its fifth week of trial, would no longer be heard under a so-called "veggie libel" law which forbids the false disparagement of agricultural products.
Robinson said the case would continue as a "common law disparagement" suit in which the plaintiffs would have to prove malice on the part of the defendants.
The judge, who has slapped a strict gag order on the case, did not explain the rulings, which came at the end of a day of hearings on defendants' motions to dismiss the case.
The suit charges that Winfrey cost the plaintiffs at least $10 million because the mad cow show misled viewers into thinking that U.S. beef was unsafe, which triggered a price drop.
The trial was expected to be the first major test of so-called "veggie libel" laws now in place in 13 states, including Texas. Opponents say the laws violate the right of free speech.
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