<P><BR> Case against Ramseys dismissed<P> Couple's book didn't defame housekeeper, federal judge<BR> decides<P> By Owen S. Good, News Staff Writer<BR> April 11, 2002<P> BOULDER -- A federal judge has dismissed a defamation lawsuit<BR> filed against John and Patsy Ramsey by their former housekeeper.<P> The April 8 ruling in federal district court in Atlanta throws out<BR> Linda Hoffmann-Pugh's claim that the Ramseys libeled her in a<BR> book they wrote by saying she was a suspect in the Dec. 26,<BR> 1996, slaying of their 6-year-old daughter, JonBenet. <P> Judge Thomas Thrash found the Ramseys' book, Death of<BR> Innocence, made no such implication. He said Hoffmann-Pugh was<BR> left off a list of 15 potential suspects the Ramseys discussed and<BR> did not fit a profile of the killer also published in the book. <P> "She is disappointed, naturally," said Hoffmann-Pugh's attorney,<BR> Darnay Hoffman of New York. "But she also said if it weren't for<BR> bad luck she'd have no luck at all." <P> Hoffman said the dismissal will be appealed. <P> Ramsey attorney L. Lin Wood of Atlanta called the dismissal "a<BR> resounding victory." He noted that since 2000, six civil suits have<BR> all resulted in settlements or dismissals favorable to the Ramseys.<P> Monday's dismissal and last month's settlement of a libel lawsuit<BR> against former Boulder Detective Steve Thomas leaves only one<BR> remaining lawsuit, in which the Ramseys' guilt or innocence could<BR> be the focus of a civil lawsuit. <P> Hoffman also represents former Boulder journalist Chris Wolf,<BR> whose name was among the 15 suspects in the Ramseys' book, in<BR> a libel suit against the Ramseys. <P> Hoffman conceded that the suits were designed to try the<BR> Ramseys for the murder of their daughter. He has said that<BR> proving their culpability would prove they knowingly, falsely<BR> identified others as suspects. <P> "There's no question that . . . there is an element of wanting to<BR> put the (criminal) evidence before a jury," Hoffman said. <P> The couple, despite wide police and public suspicion, have never<BR> faced criminal charges. <P> Hoffman said the Hoffmann-Pugh case "acted to some degree as<BR> a distraction and additional workload. Now all the efforts can be<BR> concentrated on the Wolf case." <P> But he denied that the libel claims are solely vehicles for the<BR> quasi-prosecution of the Ramseys in civil court. <P> "If I felt there was no merit to the Linda Hoffmann-Pugh case, I<BR> never would have brought it," he said. <P> Hoffmann-Pugh's case resulted in the Colorado courts' secrecy<BR> oath required of grand jury witnesses struck down as<BR> unconstitutional. A federal judge made the ruling in July in a claim<BR> spun off from the case.