(Republican) Official Sues Over Letter Citing Marriages By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 1:34 a.m. ET SANFORD, Fla. (AP) -- A county Republican chairman won a defamation suit Wednesday against a former county GOP executive committee member who wrote state party leaders about his many marriages and accused him of spousal abuse.
Jim Stelling, who heads the Seminole County Republican Party, sued Nancy Goettman for the letter she sent just days before the 2003 election for chairman of the Republican Party of Florida. Stelling narrowly lost to Carole Jean Jordan.
Besides the abuse accusation, Goettman wrote in her letter that Stelling has been married six times when he has been married only five times.
Judge Clayton Simmons ruled that a mistake on the number of Stelling's marriages was harmless but concluded the abuse claim was false and defamatory.
Stelling won no financial damages, but Goettman was ordered not to send the letter to anyone else. At one point, Stelling had asked for $99,000 plus legal fees and costs.
''The lawsuit was about restoring my good name. I feel like the judge has done that. I feel vindicated,'' he said. ''I wanted my name cleared of all the garbage that was in her letter.''
Goettman, who acted as her own attorney, had no comment.
Tuesday, during the trial, Stelling called Goettman's letter ''unconscionable.''
''I have four children and eight grandchildren that I love dearly,'' he said. ''I believe in family values.''
Goettman had asked Stelling whether being off by one really matters when the number gets that high.
''I beg your pardon,'' Stelling said. ''Of course I don't agree with that statement.''
Two of Stelling's wives were in the courtroom, including his current wife, Lorayne.
Stelling said he wasn't proud of the number of marriages but ''no matter how many times I've been married, that has no impact on how I would lead.''
Goettman, who now lives in San Antonio, said: ''I did what I thought was right.''