Court: Michael Moore did not defame Iraq vet Sgt. Peter Damon

DAVID W. OLIVEIRA / NEW BEDFORD STANDARD TIMES VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS Former Army National Guard Sgt. Peter Damon sued filmmaker Michael Moore for $85 million, alleging that Moore used snippets of a television interview without his permission to falsely portray him as anti-war in "Fahrenheit 9/11." A court has ruled against him.

Court: Michael Moore did not defame Iraq vet

The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Mar 27, 2008 13:54:21 EDT

BOSTON — A federal appeals court has ruled filmmaker Michael Moore did not defame an Iraq war veteran when he used a clip from a television interview without his permission in the anti-war documentary “Fahrenheit 9/11.”

The 1st Circuit Court of Appeal affirmed a federal judge’s decision to dismiss Army Sgt. Peter Damon’s lawsuit against Moore.

Damon, who lost his arms when a tire on a Black Hawk helicopter exploded while he and another reservist were servicing the aircraft, claimed he was humiliated and emotionally distressed after Moore included a clip from a TV interview in his scathing 2004 documentary criticizing the Bush administration and the war in Iraq.

In the interview, Damon was asked about a new painkiller the military was using on wounded veterans. He claimed the way Moore used the clip makes him appear to “voice a complaint about the war effort” when he was actually complaining about “the excruciating type of pain” that comes with the injury he suffered.

Damon is shown shortly after Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., is speaking about the Bush administration and says, “You know, they say they’re not leaving any veterans behind, but they’re leaving all kinds of veterans behind.”
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