Lawyer: ‘Da Vinci’ author unreliable

Arguments closed Monday in “The Da Vinci Code” copyright case in London, with the lawyer for the men suing the publisher of the blockbuster novel suggesting that author Dan Brown’s testimony was unreliable.

Jonathan Rayner James, whose clients say Brown stole their ideas for his huge best seller, said that the novelist’s testimony at the trial last week should be treated with “deep suspicion.” He also asked why Brown’s wife, Blythe, who did much of the research for the book, was not called as a witness in the copyright-infringement case.

Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh are suing “Da Vinci Code” publisher Random House, claiming Brown’s book “appropriated the architecture” of their 1982 nonfiction book, “The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail.”

Brown has acknowledged that he and Blythe read “Holy Blood” while researching “The Da Vinci Code” but said they also used 38 other books and hundreds of documents and that the British authors’ book was not crucial to their work.

Judge Peter Smith said he would give his verdict in the case before the court term ends April 13.