AMARILLO, Texas, April 11- The beef defamation dispute pitting Oprah Winfrey and her show against Texas cattlemen has deepened after the Texas Beef Group and other cattle companies joined an appeal against a jury decision acquitting Winfrey and her show.
Cattleman Paul Engler filed an appeal March 27 after an Amarillo jury acquitted Winfrey, her show and a guest of allegations that their comments defamed beef and cost the beef producers millions of dollars.
The civil trial ended in February.
Court documents show that Texas Beef Group, Perryton Feeders Inc., Maltese Cross Cattle Co., Bravo Cattle Co., Alpha 3 Cattle Co. and Dripping Springs Cattle Co. joined the appeal Friday in Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.
In June 1996, Engler sued in U.S. District Court, two months after Winfrey and a guest discussed the health threat from beef consumption.
The April l6, l996, show was broadcast during an international scare over so-called "mad cow" disease, which devastated cattle herds in the United Kingdom.
The disease, which can affect the brain, poses a threat to humans who consume infected beef.
After a trial that turned hundreds of Panhandle residents into stargazers out to catch a glimpse of Winfrey and her Hollywood guests, jurors acquitted Winfrey and the other defendants.
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