Judge Clears Scary Larry in Lawsuit
/
Former Philly Larry Mendte has been cleared in a lawsuit filed by the co-anchor who's email he hacked. But as Yogi Berra used to say "It ain't over till it's over."
The Philly Daily News writes that Common Pleas Judge Allan L. Tereshko has dismissed the remaining claims filed against the former KYW anchor by ex-colleague Alycia Lane.
But Lane's attorney, Paul Rosen, made it very clear that he planned to appeal the ruling.
Tereshko dismissed the civil case filed against KYW, but had allowed some of the charges against Mendte to stand, pending further investigation.
Those final claims were dropped last week after the judge found that Lane had deleted key emails from her computer.
"As far as I'm concerned, Lane already got her pound of flesh from Larry in the federal criminal case. Larry has done nothing but try to make amends and move on, but she has nothing but vengeance in heart," said Mendte's attorney, Julia Morrow.
Mendte pleaded guilty to federal charges of email intrusion and was sentenced to six months of house arrest and probation. Mendte is currently a news commentator for Tribune Broadcasting.
Rosen, meanwhile, said he was "elated with happiness" by the ruling. According to Rosen, Tereshko was prejudiced against his client from the beginning, and the final dismissal allows him to appeal the case to Superior Court.
"It was like a release from judicial jail, and I finally get a chance to challenge the warden," Rosen said, calling from his vacation in St. Barts.
Tereshko issued his ruling last week after Morrow argued that the destruction of evidence by Lane ruined Mendte's ability to defend himself against charges that he damaged Lane's reputation.
"My position was that no, she damaged her own reputation by punching that cop and calling her a dyke," Morrow said, referencing a December 2007 incident for which she was charged with assaulting a New York City police officer. The charges were later reduced to a misdemeanor and subsequently dropped.
Lane is currently the morning anchor at KNBC in Los Angeles.
KYW declined to comment.
