By Hugo Daniel
Last updated at 3:41 AM on 15th February 2011
David Beckham lost his bid to sue a magazine yesterday after an American court threw out his £15.5million libel claim
Last year In Touch published an article claiming Beckham paid a £2,000-a-night prostitute, Irma Nici, and a ‘mystery brunette’ for sex at New York’s Le Parker Meridien Hotel in August 2007
Beckham’s plans to sue were thwarted as, under U.S. law, he would have prove that the publisher acted ‘with malice’.
Victoria and David Beckham in New York together for Valentines Day; the footballer's attempt to sue a U.S. magazine for libel has failed
His lawyers failed to do so – and couldn’t argue that Nici wasn’t allowed the right to ‘free speech’, a U.S. constitutional right
In the United States, the plaintiff must prove the defendant’s claims were false and were known to be false at the time they were made. In the UK the burden of proof is on the defendant to justify publication by showing the material to be true.
The 35-year-old footballer had hoped to prove the prostitute was lying in the courts after she alleged they had a fling. But Judge Manuel Real threw out his action in a court in Los Angeles yesterday.
In his summary, the judge said Beckham was in the public eye and there was a public interest in his personal life – and that Nici’s constitutional right was to say what she wanted.
BECKHAM'S STATEMENT
'Bauer do not dispute for purposes of this motion that their story is false,' Beckham's spokesman told MailOnline.
'They have not provided one shred of evidence to support the claim this story is true. David Beckham’s clear evidence proved that this is without foundation.
'We have already won a court ruling in Germany and are awaiting damages.
'Unfortunately, the US legal system requires us to show that the magazine acted maliciously.
'Any knowledgeable person knows this story not to be true, and we will continue to fight this in court and the decision will be appealed.'
He added that Beckham had not demonstrated that there was clear and convincing evidence that the publishers acted with malice
Judge Real said Beckham’s behaviour was a topic of interest to a ‘wide variety of people’
He added that ‘whether or not the statement of the alleged affair was in fact false’, Beckham must prove the defendants acted with ‘actual malice’
He added any supposed failure in the magazine’s investigating did not establish that. The judge also said that there was no evidence to say that In Touch publisher Bauer ‘avoided the truth’.
Richard Kendall, Beckham’s lawyer, had earlier argued that the magazine’s story and investigation were a ‘mockery’.
He added: ‘Mr Beckham was in New York and in London on the days in question. He was not at either hotel.
‘This could have been confirmed easily by the tabloid if it phoned the hotel and asked.’
However, Elizabeth McNamara, representing Bauer, argued: ‘What is undisputed are the facts that they (In Touch) relied on two on-record sources.’ She said the sources’ claims were also ‘entirely consistent with Mr Beckham’s reputation as a philanderer’.
Beckham issued legal proceedings three days after the article was published in the U.S. last September. He filed papers showing evidence from bodyguards.
Claims: Prostitute Irma Nici
Beckham faces a huge legal bill for trying to protect his name. Despite the ruling, he is adamant Miss Nici lied – and his lawyers say they had no chance to cross-examine her.
Mr Kendall said that his client was likely to appeal against the decision. He added: ‘On the first occasion he was at a game and he was in the presence of a number of people so it is easily disproven.
‘The second time he was in hospital visiting his father.’
A spokesman for Beckham said: ‘Bauer do not dispute for purposes of this motion that their story is false. They have not provided one shred of evidence to support the claim this story is true.
‘We have already won a court ruling in Germany and are awaiting damages. Unfortunately, the U.S. legal system requires us to show the magazine acted maliciously.’
Outside court, Paul Jensen, Miss Nici’s lawyer, said he planned to counter-sue Beckham for harassing his client.
He added: ‘When Mr Beckham sued my client he hired people to hunt her down. He did so in an outrageous and terrifying way.’
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