VERO BEACH — Attorneys for Vero Beach 32963 on Thursday filed a motion for sanctions against city council candidate Amelia Graves, asking the Circuit Court of Indian River County to dismiss her lawsuit against the newspaper and force Graves and/or her attorneys to pay all legal costs the newspaper may incur in defending itself.
Graves last week filed suit against the newspaper for “intentional infliction of emotional distress” over a front-page article in the newspaper’s Oct. 24 edition examining Graves’ resume. Graves took issue with an assertion in the article that it could find no evidence she was ever enrolled in a Master’s program at the University of Florida, as she had alleged. The newspaper has said it stands by its story.
The newspaper’s attorney, Louis B. “Buck” Vocelle, Jr., said in his motion for dismissal Thursday that Graves’ claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress is “not supported by the material facts necessary.
“Even if the facts alleged were true – which the (newspaper) vehemently denies – they would not even begin to rise to the level of ‘outrageousness’ as required by the Florida Supreme Court,” Vocelle’s motion states.
The motion adds that Graves’ claim, filed through her attorney Adam Chrzan, is “frivolous and without merit.”
Graves is one of five candidates vying for two seats in next Tuesday’s Vero Beach city council elections. Both incumbents, Dick Winger and Tracy Carroll, are running for re-election. Apart from Graves, t wo other challengers are former councilman Brian heady and frequent city hall critic Joseph Guffanti.