CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SANTA ANA : Couple Drops Claim of Nissan Spying

An Orange County couple have dropped a novel lawsuit in which they claimed that Nissan Motor Corp. planted an automotive spy in their home to study the habits of middle-class Americans, attorneys said. Stephen and Maritza French of Costa Mesa told their lawyer that they did not want to endure the stress of pursuing the litigation. The decision was hailed by Nissan, which had denounced the lawsuit as groundless as soon as it was filed in Orange County Superior Court last December. Jon Anderson, Nissan’s lawyer, said Takashi Morimoto had indeed been conducting market research on the car-buying habits of the American public, but he rented a room in the French family home only to study English.