Talk:Reynolds v. Pegler

The Trial

Below is something I am working on which I will eventually add to the article.

Quentin and his wife Ginny Reynolds approached New York trial lawyer Louis Nizer about suing Westbrook Pegler and Hearst corporations for libel. Nizer advised that a successful case would be years in the making and likely provoke further attacks from the Hearst press (pp. 20). After suit was instituted, Pegler and Hearst corporation submitted a pleading that lavished detail on Pegler's original claims, and counterclaimed for libel against Reynolds. The Pegler/Hearst pleading suggested that Heywood Broun was welcoming of nudist practices, and claimed Quentin Reynolds "was a willing and enthusiastic participant" in "orgies" at Broun's Connecticut home. It claimed that Reynolds was the "principle attraction" of "a celebration conducted by the aforesaid Garsson Brothers at an all-day carouse" that Reynolds was the "principal attraction" of the event "for which the taxpayers of the United States paid $16,000," and that Reynolds "appeared as a vaudeville actor in connection with a motion picture show and appeared on the stage in a spotlight, emerging from a trap door wearing a steel helmet, with intending terrific histrionic impact." (pp 21)

Louis Nizer assembled a wide roster of witnesses to testify to the character of Quentin Reynolds. Louis Mountbatten, the Earl of Burma was summoned to refute Pegler's charge that "gutless" Reynolds was an "absentee war correspondent." Lord Mountbatten recalled Reynolds' request for a post on the Calpe, the flagship which suffered 25% casualties (pp 24) during the deadly Dieppe Raid, saying "any ship other than the Calpe would have been a safer place." Vice Admiral John Hughes-Hallett, commander of the Calpe during the raid, described an attack against the Calpe by three German boats, during which two of the crew nearest Reynolds were killed.

General Sir Frank Messervy said Reynolds "demonstrated great courage, calm, and exemplary morale," while Captain Clive Burt testified that Reynolds "sought out places of danger that he was under no obligation to otherwise encounter."

- an entire section on Pegler's testimony.

- An entire section, comprised of one paragraph, on the jury's verdict, why the deliberations took so long, and its significance.

For all of these, my source is Nizer's My Life in Court, of which I own a copy. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Abbenm (talk • contribs) 04:11, 28 January 2010 (UTC)