The Region - News from Jan. 23, 1986

A Los Angeles federal court judge refused to grant a default judgment to singer Frank Sinatra in his defamation lawsuit against a Swiss clinic--but wouldn’t dismiss the singer’s case, either. Sinatra sued the Clinic La Prairie of Montreux, Switzerland, for more than $11 million, claiming that the organization obtained unjust enrichment by claiming that Sinatra received 12 injections of live cells from black sheep fetuses as a rejuvenation treatment in 1984--a tale that Sinatra called “a complete fabrication.” The singer’s attorneys asked U.S. District Judge Manuel L. Real to grant default judgment in his favor, while lawyers for the clinic asked Real to reject the suit on grounds that federal courts lack jurisdiction over the Swiss clinic. Real rejected both motions.