Appeals court says Geraldo not guilty of defamation

ATLANTA - A federal appellate court on Tuesday rejected a libel suit against Geraldo Rivera, saying the television journalist&#39;s calling an anti-abortion activist an ``accomplice to homicide&#39;&#39; was an exaggeration protected by law. <br> <br> In an October 27, 1998 interview on his show ``Upfront Tonight,&#39;&#39; Rivera and activist Neal Horsley had a heated exchange about the murder four days earlier of a Buffalo abortion doctor. Horsley, of Carrollton, was alleged to have listed the doctor&#39;s name, address and Social Security number on one of his anti-abortion Web sites. <br> <br> In the midst of the discussion, Rivera said, ``You are an accomplice to homicide, Mr. Horsley.&#39;&#39; Horsley sued Rivera for libel and slander, saying he and his family had received death threats. <br> <br> Rivera asked a district court to dismiss the suit, saying the speech was protected by the First Amendment and state law. <br> <br> The court denied Rivera&#39;s motion, but a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said his speech was protected as an ``imaginative and figurative expression that could not have been taken by a reasonable viewer ... as a literal assertion of facts.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> ``The fact that the parties were engaged in an emotional debate on a highly sensitive topic weighs in favor of the conclusion that a reasonable viewer would infer that Rivera&#39;s statement was more an expression of outrage than an accusation of fact,&#39;&#39; the justices wrote in their opinion. <br> <br> Horsley was not at home and unavailable for comment, a woman who answered the phone at his home said.