Rudin friend's slander suit is dismissed

A slander lawsuit filed by the former financial adviser and friend of Margaret Rudin against Paramount Pictures has been dismissed.

Yehuda Sharon filed a federal lawsuit against Paramount Pictures and its subsidiary "Hard Copy" in June 1999 claiming his reputation was besmirched by a segment of the TV show that aired in December 1996.

During the segment, video footage was shown of Sharon meeting with Rudin in a public area of Los Angeles International Airport shortly before Rudin was indicted in the 1994 murder of her millionaire husband, Ron Rudin.

Margaret Rudin was arrested in November in Massachusetts and is fighting extradition to Las Vegas to face murder charges. A court hearing is scheduled for Friday in Framingham, Mass., on fugitive charges.

Ron Rudin disappeared Dec. 18, 1994, and his badly burned body was found near Lake Mohave on Jan. 21, 1995. He had been shot several times in the head.

Although Sharon was not identified by name in the "Hard Copy" segment, he was referred to as Rudin's "alleged lover."

Sharon claimed in his lawsuit that Paramount violated his civil rights and slandered him.

However, in asking that the lawsuit be dismissed, Paramount said that not only had the statute of limitations on slander passed, but Sharon could not prove that Paramount had engaged in "extreme and outrageous conduct with the intent to cause emotional distress," as required under slander laws. Nor could he prove that Paramount had "carelessly disregarded" Sharon's possible emotional distress.

U.S. District Judge Philip Pro, in dismissing the lawsuit, wrote in part that while Paramount may have been neglectful for not interviewing Sharon prior to the segment airing, Sharon admitted in court documents that the police thought he knew Margaret Rudin's whereabouts and how exactly the body of Ron Rudin was disposed of.

Pro also ruled that the statute of limitations began when the show first aired on "Hard Copy" and not when "American's Most Wanted," a syndicated television show, aired the segment multiple times in 1998.

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