Posted on 11/21/2006 10:21:53 AM PST by NormsRevenge
ORLANDO, Fla. - Relatives of a missing boy's mother who killed herself after aggressive questioning by CNN's Nancy Grace sued the network and the talk-show host Tuesday, claiming Grace caused emotional distress that led to the suicide.
Melinda Duckett committed suicide Sept. 8, a day after Grace's show on CNN Headline News aired a segment in which Grace grilled Duckett about her whereabouts Aug. 27 — the day 2-year-old Trenton Duckett was reported missing.
Authorities, who said last week they believe the boy is alive, have named Melinda Duckett as the prime suspect in his disappearance.
Jay Paul Deratany, the attorney representing Duckett's estate, said Tuesday that Grace encouraged Duckett to appear on her show by saying the goal was to draw public attention to help find Trenton.
"It's not just about the questioning, it's about the misrepresentation with the knowledge that she was emotionally distraught," Deratany said. The attorney said Grace improperly took on the role of a law enforcement officer.
CNN Headline News declined to comment specifically on the lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages.
"We stand by Nancy Grace and fully support her, as we have from the beginning of this matter," a spokeswoman said in a news release Tuesday.
A file photo released by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement shows Trenton Duckett, a 2-year-old who was reported missing on Aug. 27, 2006, from his home in Leesburg, Fla. The boy's mother Melinda Duckett, 21, was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound Sept. 8, 2006, at her grandparent's central Florida home, police said. Investigators have renewed their search for the toddler, saying he may still be alive. (AP Photo/Florida Department of Law Enforcement)
Nancy Grace is a misnomer. She has no grace what so ever.
I was just going to post this.
I cannot stand Nancy Grace.I hope she loses this lawsuit
I don't like her either, but I can't blame her for this suicide. This young woman had a lot of mental problems and was possibly trying to hide her young son from his father. Her suicide was her own fault.
"The attorney said Grace improperly took on the role of a law enforcement officer."
Grace arrested her and took her to a secure location and held her against her wishes? No, the interview was voluntary and I suspect there was compensation. Freakin' lawyers.
Ms. Grace......
.....and her pet cat.
Coincidence is not causality.
The mom was clearly convicted of her guilt.
>>Her suicide was her own fault.<<
Suicide is never anyone's fault but the person who does it.
Indeed.
She looked guilty as can be on the show, she knew it, she killed herself. My opinion.
I saw this interview. Grace was pushing the girl for a confession. Her questions were to the point, brutally. Even with the ugliness in mind, I don't think she is why the girl commited suicide and I don't think that it will be able to be proved that Grace was somehow responsible.
You can't sue somebody for asking you really tough questions. Or annoying you with her scratchy loud voice and stupid haircut.
This is a tragic, sad story. Of course all the low-life lawyers will descent like a bunch of vultures on this one.
Nancy Grace is hard-hitting but she is also passionate and good-hearted. Her concern was for this missing little boy.
All those scummy lawyers want is some money out of this.
I saw it too. She plays it on her current shows. She was NOT "pushing for a confession", Nancy asked this woman where she spent the day that the baby disappeared. She refused to answer. It was more than obvious that the mother did NOT want the child found.
Time might be better spent by this "family" looking for the lost child instead of lawyering up for profit.
There is hope the child is still alive per the article, I wish it were so, it's a sad affair all the way around nonetheless.
More lawsuits like this are needed against MSM.
Sigh. So little of the story is in the article. First of all, this Duckett woman did not have an "estate." She barely had a pot to piss in and was an adoptee by some liberal northeastern parents that gave up on her when she was a wild teen.
Authorities shouldn't give up the search, but it looks like the child is dead and likely from the hands of his own mother. The local talk radio guy said the dead mom was into amatuer porn and the dad appears to be a 6th grade drop out.
As much as I can't stand Nan Grace, the woman who killed herself left a lot of evidence that she was pretty disturbed so I don't blame anything on Nan.
Grace is pretty dramatic. It seemed to me that Grace was accusing her of being responsible for the childs disappearance. I remember the girl refusing to answer, but the insinuation was there that because she refused to answer, she was guilty. The question was whether the child was dead or alive. All in all, I think Grace will win this.
The moral of this story is that nobody has an obligation to talk to the media. Whatever happened to "No comment." The woman's family should have told CNN to sod off.
It took a few weeks longer than I expected...
you may not like Nancy - but she didn't do anything wrong here. the mother went onto that show freely, and was questioned, and it was obvious from her answers what the deal was.
She has 'created' this persona of being all righteous indignation against this and that...and when it is all said and done, it is about ratings, money and power! Period!
"Tonight, breaking news. A mother's worst nightmare". Not as bad as the overkill your show does, Nancy.
A recent picture of Nancy Grace on Fox News shows a very different person physically that your picture....she looked overweight and bloated with a pasty complexion...much like an alcoholic.....quite a drastic difference...
The mystery remains where is Trenton? With Melinda's porn producer? Or did the relatives who now sue Nancy and everyone else with money have a hand in his death and/or disappearance.
Very true.
I saw that interview. Melinda refused to help the police or answer even simple questions, she tried to frame her former husband, acted in porn films with Trenton present, and spread malicious lies. She committed suicide perhaps just to stick it to her son's father.
As far as I know, these relatives did not help in the search for Trenton, and yet you support them? Or did you forget the sarcasm sign?
"Grace was pushing the girl for a confession."
Maybe they should sic Nancy on OJ. She would either get a confession out of him, or he would get so angry that he might do something on camera.
Not a bad idea, actually. If he confessed we might even get more angry because he can't go to trial again. But then Nancy would draw him no quarter, which would be enjoyable because he deserves no quarter. Might be dangerous for her though.
To ALL:
I have watched Nancy Grace, and hated her behavior.
I think she follows her emotions and not the law.
I think she is being paid well to do it that way on TV, because it draws viewers (money).
That being said. In this case she might be right. In this case she was putting the child's concern above a mother obviously hiding something.
If they find this child alive, no matter what my thoughts of this woman are, I would be the first to give her credit for having had the guts to do so, and risk ridicule.
She might be wrong most of the time, IMHO, but it doesn't mean she is this time.
Here's hoping she is and the child is still alive.
No one could likely have stopped this mother from committing suicide. I suspect that agreeing to be interviewed was an attempt at fixing things, but a failed attempt.
The mother chose death over confession, and it would have happened eventually.
LOL
Rooting for the family's lawyers on this one.
i'd hate to ask, but hasn't something very similar to this happened in the past (woman gets grilled on tv, commits suicide, reporter gets sued by family)
i'm feeling major deja vu
Still has that helmet hair, though.....
Agreed, she's incredibly irritating and takes herself far to seriously. I don't know how anyone can stand her, honestly.
However, I do like the attention she has brought to child victims and how she has gone after judges who have given more or less a pass to dangerous repeat pedophiles - men who for years have raped children. Far too few in the media do it. And she is one of the few to remember our fallen soldiers almost every time.
There is nothing wrong with disliking Nancy. But it is dishonest to attack her when she is right as some are doing.
Melinda should not even have had custody of Trenton. She received it only because she faked a threat from her former husband and filed false charges against him. Incredibly CPS thought it was okay for her to make porn videos while the child was present.
Since Melinda's family was conspicuously silent and missing during the search for Trenton and now suddenly want money, the police should take a closer look at them.
I am not accusing them of harming or kidnapping Trenton. However, more than one murder has been committed where the killer hoped to collect from a fat lawsuit.
I cannot stand Nancy Grace or the sight of her flaring nostrils. She is just one very unpleasant woman. Pity the man who is her husband, if there is one.
Wow it is real “conservative” to defend a woman who murdered her child. A woman who has a history of abusing her child. And the child turns up missing, oohhh I wonder who had something to do with it???? Maybe it is the person who has abused him in the past???
I’m glad Melinda killed herself, one less child murderer on the loose.
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