Man sues seven newspapers

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33965, 4 October 1975, Page 15

Man sues seven newspapers

(N.Z.P.A -Reuter —Copyright; I SAN FRANCISCO. ! Mr Oliver Sipple, the disabled former marine whose quick action may have saved President Ford’s life, has filed a Slsm invasion-of-pri-vacy action against seven American newspapers. The complaint says thati the defendants published reports which disclosed that he was a homosexual, and his lawyer, Mr John Wahl, said: “He saved the president’s life, but that doesn’t give the press the right to pry into his personal sexual orientation. “As a result of the disclosure, his parents, brothers, and sisters have stopped speaking to him, and he has been exposed toj contempt, ridicule, and I humiliation.” With a quick chop, Mr Sipple struck the hand oil Sara Jane Moore on Septem-| ber 22 about the instant she fired a single shot — which missed — at President Ford. One police officer then grabbed the gun, and others seized Moore. The White House sent a letter of thanks to Mr Sipple from Mr Ford four days after the incident, expressing appreciation.

The story of Mr Sipple’s sexual deviation was first run in the “San Francisco Chronicle,” and w'as later developed by the “Los I Angeles Times,” and distributed widely. Other defendants include the “Chicago Sun-Times,” the “Denver Post,’ the “Des Moines Register,” the “Indianpolis Star,” and the *San Antonio Express.”