Nancy Grace, CNN Head to Federal Court Over Trenton / Melinda Duckett Lawsuit

A federal magistrate has recommended that the father of Trenton Duckett, Joshua Duckett, be dropped from a wrongful-death lawsuit that has been brought forth by the family members of Melinda Duckett, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

The lawsuit named Joshua Duckett, Cable News Network (CNN), Nancy Grace, who is a host of a show on CNN, and other various associates from CNN. The magistrate also stated that he would suggest that the lawsuit be tried in federal court instead of county court.

The lawsuit was brought forth in the Lake County Courts in November of 2006 by the family members of Melinda Duckett, mother of the missing Trenton Duckett. Trenton Duckett was taken from his bedroom window in late August of 2006 while his mother and friends were watching a movie in the living room in Leesburg, Florida. The lawsuit is seeking an unspecified amount for damages stating that the Nancy Grace show inflicted emotional distress and also misappropriated the young mother's image.

When Melinda reported Trenton missing, a nationwide manhunt went into effect. The first suspect was of course the non custodial father, who had a restraining order placed against him by Melinda. The restraining order was granted from the courts based on one key piece of evidence, a message sent from Joshua Duckett's Myspace account that threatened to kill Melinda and Trenton. The court system granted the restraining order, but after Trenton went missing and Melinda has passed, it was revealed that law enforcement found out that Melinda had hacked into Joshua's Myspace account and sent that message to herself. Later Joshua Duckett was cleared as a suspect by law enforcement.

A few days after reporting that Trenton was missing, Joshua and Melinda Duckett both agreed to appear on CNN's Nancy Grace show. Joshua Duckett answered all questions that Grace presented to him in a favorable fashion. However when Grace turned to Melinda the tables turned. Melinda Duckett flat out refused to answer some questions and on others, changed her answers frequently. Nancy Grace did not feel that Melinda had answered the questions the way that a grieving mother that was doing all she could to look for her son should. The show was aired the following evening. Hours before the show aired, Melinda Duckett was found dead in her Grandparent's Lady Lake home. Melinda died in a closet from a self inflected gunshot wound in September of 2006.

After Melinda committed suicide, law enforcement named her the primary suspect in the disappearance of her own child. Many scenarios have come into play since that time. One of the scenarios was that Melinda shipped Trenton back to her home country of Korea, or that he sold him to someone. Law enforcement has also said that there is a possibility that someone is hiding Trenton from his father.

Soon after the suicide of Melinda Duckett, Melinda's family decided to file a wrongful death lawsuit against Nancy Grace and Cable News Network (CNN). In the lawsuit it claims that Grace pushed Melinda so far that Melinda thought there was nothing she could do other than commit suicide. Melinda's separated husband, Joshua Duckett, was also named in the lawsuit. Melinda's family wanted a court ordered accounting of all money spent from the Trenton Duckett Family Charitable Trust, alleging that Joshua was using the money for personal benefit.

The federal magistrate Gary R. Jones sided with CNN and Nancy Grace with wanting the lawsuit in a Federal court. CNN and the Nancy Grace show are based out of Atlanta. Melinda's family wanted the lawsuit to be heard in circuit court in Lake County Florida, which is the county where Melinda and Trenton Duckett lived.. The magistrate's recommendations will be submitted to U.S. District Judge William Terrell Hodges, who will have the final say on where the lawsuit will be tried.If you would like to learn more, or help with the search you can visit http://www.helpfindtrenton.com/ for more information.

Sources that helped compile this article:

Katie Fretland, Christine Dellert and Stephen Hudak of the Orlando Sentinel staff,
"Magistrate: Drop dad from Duckett suit" Orlando Sentinel URL: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/community/news/leesburg/orl-lbriefs21_607jun21,0,6537784.story