Diamond Bar : Mayor’s Libel Suits Dropped

A Superior Court judge has dismissed two libel lawsuits Diamond Bar Mayor Gary G. Miller filed in August against three residents who have been City Council critics.

The first suit names the Diamond Bar Citizens to Protect Country Living and William Gross, former head of the citizens group and a leader in the effort to recall Miller and Mayor Pro Tem Phyllis Papen. The second names Max Maxwell, head of the citizens group, and Norman Beach-Courchesne, president of the Pathfinder Homeowners Assn.

The mayor alleges that the three conspired to ruin his reputation by distributing flyers and making statements that falsely accuse him of extortion, bribery and other crimes.

However, Pomona Superior Court Judge Theodore Piatt ruled Thursday that statements made on the main flyer at issue were not libelous because they were made “relative to a (lawsuit) on file with (Orange County Superior Court).”

Miller, who could appeal the decision, declined comment until he had a chance to review Piatt’s ruling.

The suits sought millions of dollars in damages for what Miller, a developer, asserts has been harm to his reputation as a public official and businessman.

The three defendants, all City Council critics, have said Miller’s lawsuits are an attempt to stifle criticism of the mayor and to deflect attention away from the citizens group’s petition drive for a referendum on the city’s General Plan and the recall drive targeting Miller and Papen.