Appeals court backs ruling that Ramseys did not defame ex-housekeeper

ATLANTA - A federal appeals court has upheld a judge&#39;s ruling that John and Patsy Ramsey did not libel their former housekeeper in a book about the 1996 slaying of their 6-year-old daughter, JonBenet, in their Colorado home. <br> <br> Linda Hoffman-Pugh took issue with a passage in the book, ``The Death of Innocence.&#39;&#39; She said it implied that she might have kidnapped JonBenet for monetary gain. <br> <br> A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that the book would not lead a reasonable person to conclude that Hoffman-Pugh was guilty of a crime. <br> <br> ``In fact, the passage suggests that the Ramseys did not believe that Hoffman-Pugh would hurt their daughter if she had kidnapped her and reflect their belief that Hoffman-Pugh was a ``good, sweet person,&#39;&#39;&#39; said the opinion written by Circuit Judge Ed Carnes. <br> <br> ``Not only that, but a few pages later in the same chapter, the Ramseys point out that their daughter was not actually kidnapped, but instead was murdered in their house, which means the statements cannot be construed as suggesting that Hoffman-Pugh committed the crime of kidnapping (or that anyone else did, for that matter).&#39;&#39; <br> <br> The opinion noted that later in the book the Ramseys present a profile of the person they believe murdered JonBent, a white male 25 to 35. <br> <br> Tuesday&#39;s ruling upholds U.S. District Judge Thomas Thrash&#39;s dismissal of Hoffman-Pugh&#39;s lawsuit. Thrash said in April that the Ramseys did not name her as a suspect nor did she fit the profile. <br> <br> JonBenet&#39;s killer has not been caught. The Ramseys left Colorado and now live in the Atlanta area.