[11/1/03]Former Warren County Judge Gerald Hosemann Friday lost on all counts in his lawsuit against The Vicksburg Post for its reporting and against a Hinds County deputy who investigated criminal charges against him in 2001.

“Going into this, we knew the case was without merit and the charges against the newspaper and Pamela Turner were ludicrous,” said Pat Cashman, publisher of the newspaper. “And I was pleased the jury vote was unanimous on every count.”

Turner was an investigator in the case that led to Hosemann’s Dec. 28, 2001, arrest on charges of aggravated assault after he was accused of beating his former court reporter, Juanita “Nita” Johnston, and leaving her on his ranch property in Hinds County.

The case against Hosemann ended when he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of disturbing the peace after Johnston said publicly that he did not harm her.

Hosemann said the newspaper libeled him by printing that Johnston had been severely beaten and for printing that in a sworn statement Johnston told Turner that Hosemann was the attacker.

“I am very happy that all the people who work very hard every day to bring us news in a fair and balanced manner have been vindicated, particularly the young reporters involved in this case,” said Ken Rector, an attorney for the newspaper. “I hope this verdict finally closes the book on a very difficult period for all people involved in this case and for our community.”

The suit against Turner stated that she had used “undue influence and intimidation in an effort to force Ms. Johnston to sign a statement to the effect that (Hosemann) had physically assaulted Ms. Johnston.”

During the trial that lasted two weeks, Ridgeland attorney Lawson Hester, who represented Turner, played a tape recording of Johnston’s statement taken while Johnston was a patient at University Medical Center in Jackson.

“I just thank God it’s over,” Turner said after jurors returned the verdict and were released from Warren County Circuit Court by Judge William Coleman, a retired Hinds County Circuit Court judge who had been appointed by the Mississippi Supreme Court to hear the case.

Contacted at his law office after leaving the courthouse, Hosemann said he and his lawyer, Dennis Horn of Madison, had not made a decision about appealing the case.

“We’ve been through two weeks of trial,” Hosemann said. “I will be discussing the evidence and the matter with my attorney, and we will make a decision at the appropriate time.”

When filed on Aug. 12, 2002, the lawsuit included as defendants Post managing editor Charlie Mitchell, Hinds County investigator Eddie Robinson, Vicksburg attorneys Paul Kelly Loyacono and Travis T. Vance Jr. and Loyacono’s wife, Kathryn Loyacono. The litigation asked for a total of $5.4 million in actual and punitive damages.

Vance was dropped from the suit without explanation, the Loyaconos reportedly settled before the trial and Coleman dismissed the allegations against Mitchell before the trial began and the allegations against Robinson after the plaintiffs rested.

Hosemann, now 51, had been an attorney in private practice in Warren County until 1986 when he took the bench in Warren County Court and Youth Court. He remained on the bench until 2002, when he lost his re-election bid in a five-way race.