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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A federal judge has dismissed a libel lawsuit filed last year by the wife of former Rep. Gary Condit against USA Today and its parent company, Gannett Co.
U.S. District Judge Bruce Black ruled this week that New Mexico was the wrong jurisdiction for the case. Carolyn Condit had filed the lawsuit there because of a state law that lets plaintiffs sue up to three years after a published report.
The suit was filed in response to a July 27, 2001, USA Today article about the disappearance of Chandra Levy, a federal intern whose remains were found in a Washington park the following May.
Condit is not considered a suspect in Levy's unsolved death, but police sources have told The Associated Press that the former California Democratic congressman told investigators he had been having an affair with Levy.
USA Today reported that Carolyn Condit had spoken with Levy on the telephone and confronted her. The paper attributed the report to a National Enquirer story that cited confidential sources.
Carolyn Condit said she never spoke with or met Levy, and Washington police said there was no truth to the Enquirer report. Carolyn Condit settled a libel lawsuit against the Enquirer last summer.
Black said Carolyn Condit offered no evidence the USA Today article was circulated in New Mexico. It appeared in the paper's second edition, but only the first edition was distributed in the state.
"We're pleased the court dismissed the complaint," USA Today spokesman Steven Anderson said Thursday. | 
