Nancy Grace denies mental abuse allegations in Melinda Duckett suicide case

Orlando Sentinel
Stephen Hudak Sentinel Staff Writer
September 29, 2009

OCALA - Cable TV talking head Nancy Grace denies that she subjected the mother of a missing Leesburg child to mental abuse during a testy taped interview that preceded the young mother's suicide.

In a routine motion filed last week in a wrongful-death civil suit in federal court in Ocala, lawyers for Melinda Duckett's estate attached Grace's responses to their interrogatories, a set of written queries that Grace and her lawyers were required to answer...

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"Ms. Duckett was amiable when on the telephone immediately prior to her appearance, then abruptly left the call during her appearance."
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...Grace describes her cable program in the interrogatories as "television's only (?) justice-themed/interview/debate show, designed for those interested in the breaking crime news of the day.

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Trenton Duckett was 2-years-old when his mother, Melinda, reported him missing Aug. 27, 2006, from the bedroom of their apartment in Leesburg. She then shot and killed herself at her grandparents' home in The Villages on Sept. 8, 2006, the day the interview with Grace was broadcast.

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The case is scheduled for trial in July.

Lawyers will not object to release of Melinda Duckett's mental-health records

Sentinel Staff Writer
11:53 AM EST, January 5, 2009

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Lawyers suing CNN and Nancy Grace on behalf of Melinda Duckett's estate will not object to the release of the young mother's mental-health records.

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The psychiatric records are relevant to the estate's wrongful-death claim against the cable giant and Grace, a network personality whose grilling interview of Duckett preceded the 21-year-old mom's suicide in 2006, lawyer Kara Skorupa told the Orlando Sentinel today.

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The network asked a federal judge on New Year's Eve to force Lifestream Behavioral Center in Leesburg to surrender documents detailing its treatment of Duckett, mother of missing Leesburg toddler Trenton Duckett.

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The mental-health center has refused to honor a defense subpeona.

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Melinda Duckett shot herself at her grandparents' home in The Villages in September 2006 the day the network aired Grace's taped interview with her.

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Skorupa also dismissed unsourced reports that CNN and Grace were seeking amateur, pornographic videos of Melinda Duckett in their defense of the lawsuit, which also accuses them of "intentional infliction of emotional distress."

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Skorupa said she gave the videos to law enforcement officers investigating Trenton's disappearance. "I don't think they're relevant to what we claim CNN and Nancy Grace did to Mindy," Skorupa said.Lawyers representing CNN and Grace did not return a call seeking comment.

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Leesburg police consider Melinda Duckett the prime suspect in the disappearance of her son, Aug. 27, 2006.

CNN's lawyers seek court order to get Melinda Duckett's mental-health records

Stephen Hudak Sentinel Staff Writer
January 2, 2009

Melinda Duckett, the mother of missing 2-year-old Trenton Duckett, holds a picture of her and her son following a news conference at the Leesburg Police Department on Aug. 29. Melinda Duckett, 21, was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound Friday, Sept. 8, 2006.
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STEPHEN M. DOWELL, ORLANDO SENTINEL / August 29, 2006
OCALA - Lawyers for CNN and the network's host Nancy Grace want a federal judge to order a Lake County mental-health facility to turn over its treatment records of Melinda Duckett, who was mother of missing toddler Trenton Duckett and who committed suicide.
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In documents filed New Year's Eve, the lawyers contend Duckett's mental-health history is relevant to her family's wrongful-death lawsuit, which accuses Grace and her show of "intentionally inflicting emotional distress" on the 21-year-old mother.
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Officials for LifeStream Behavioral Center in Leesburg, which treated Duckett, told the cable network's lawyers last month that they would not honor a deposition subpoena but would follow a judge's order.
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Duckett shot herself in her grandparents' home in The Villages on the day that Grace planned to air a taped interview with Duckett. Duckett reported her son missing from his bed in her apartment on Aug. 27, 2006.

Trenton Duckett's Birthday

Sunday, August 10, 2008

LAKE COUNTY -- Aug. 10 is a somber day for one Lake County family. It's Trenton Duckett's fourth birthday.

He was reported missing back in August of 2006 from his home in Leesburg, but has never been found.

The boy's mother, Melinda, was named the prime suspect in the case, but she later took her own life.On Sunday, there was a special message on the Help Find Trenton website that read “we'll never give up until you're home.”

The boy's father, Josh Duckett, has been involved with the search for Caylee Anthony. Anthony's third birthday was Saturday.

Judge Won't Nix Suit Against Nancy Grace in Mom's Suicide

First I have the utmost respect for Nancy Grace, as an active advocate for victims. I post this, not as a slap at Nancy Grace, but because of the similarity of the cases of Trenton Duckett and Caylee Anthony. They both have mothers who were spoiled and pampered, manipulative and used their children as bargaining chips, Melinda to get what she wanted from Josh; Casey to get her way with her parents. Mothers who were cold and indifferent. Good Luck, Nancy.

OCALA, Florida — A federal judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit that claims CNN's Nancy Grace pushed the mother of a missing toddler to suicide through aggressive questioning.

CNN and Grace argued the wrongful death lawsuit brought by Melinda Duckett's family would "severely chill" journalists' coverage of missing-persons cases. But U.S. District Judge William Terrell Hodges on Thursday denied their motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

Duckett, 21, was on Grace's show after her son Trenton went missing from her apartment in August 2006. Grace grilled the woman, accusing her of hiding something because Duckett did not take a lie-detector test and answered vaguely regarding her whereabouts.

Duckett fatally shot herself before the network aired the pre-taped interview.

The family claims Grace's intense questioning caused severe emotional distress that led to the suicide. The lawsuit also claims that the decision to air the interview after her suicide caused the family to suffer severe emotional distress and media and public harassment. They are seeking a jury trial, unspecified damages more than $15,000 and punitive damages.

Trenton family attorney Jay Paul Deratany said attorneys will begin taking testimony.
"There is more information out there to be gleaned," said Deratany. "If Melinda had any information, Nancy Grace stopped the investigation in its track."

Police have said Duckett is the only suspect in her son's disappearance.

A message left Friday for an attorney representing Grace and CNN were not immediately returned.