LOS ANGELES : Tabloid Cleared of Claim in Liz Taylor Libel Case

A federal judge Monday cleared the National Enquirer of an allegation that it broke racketeering laws by publishing a story that said Elizabeth Taylor’s husband threatened to break a neighbor’s legs.

The judge, however, left intact other claims against the tabloid in a lawsuit by Taylor and her husband, Larry Fortensky. They included libel, slander, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress. U.S. District Judge Ronald S. W. Lew sent the case back to state court, where it was originally filed.

The Enquirer’s attorney, Gerson Zweifach, said he would ask a state judge to throw out the rest of the suit, which seeks unspecified damages. The Enquirer has stood by its story.

The suit, filed in Superior Court April 26, took issue with the Enquirer’s March 30 article headlined “Liz & Larry Force Neighbor to Flee His Home in Fear.” Fortensky, the story said, drove Max Hoshahn out of his $5-million home in a dispute over a property fence. The Enquirer quoted Hoshahn as saying Fortensky threatened to break his legs.

“Absolute fiction,” said Taylor-Fortensky attorney Neil Papiano. Hoshahn was actually a tenant who had no dealings with the couple. A photograph that identifies a man as Hoshahn shows somebody else, he said.