County : Judge Upholds Dismissal of Ex-POW’s Libel Suit

Former county supervisor and ex-POW Edison W. Miller failed to show that Bruce Nestande and 29 former Vietnam prisoners knew that their 1980 campaign literature against Miller falsely accused him of corroborating with the Hanoi government, state appellate justices ruled Friday.

The decision by the 4th District Court of Appeal’s three-man San Diego panel upheld the 1985 dismissal of Miller’s 7-year-old libel lawsuit by Orange County Superior Judge Judith M. Ryan.

The panel ruled that, contrary to Miller’s appeal, Nestande did not merely rely on “hearsay and rumor” in approving a campaign brochure that, in part, led to Nestande’s overwhelming defeat of Miller in a bitter election battle in June, 1980.

“Nestande’s diligence in attempting to corroborate the accuracy of published reports of Miller’s conduct by personally contacting the (Miller’s) fellow prisoners of war more than meets the investigative burden to show good faith,” the panel stated in its 18-page opinion.

Miller, who is now a lawyer, was shot down during an air raid over North Vietnam. He had been accused of aiding the North Vietnamese by making anti-war statements during his five-year captivity.

Miller could not be reached for comment late Friday.