Cueto
Pflaum
Oral arguments will be heard at the Fifth District Appellate Court in Mount Vernon on Wednesday in a false light invasion of privacy suit filed in 2006 by Amiel Cueto against the Madison County Record.
Cueto sued the Record on Nov. 8, 2006 in St. Clair County over an article in the Record discussing Cueto's relevance to the candidacy of his brother, Lloyd Cueto, for St. Clair County circuit judge. The suit was filed one day after Lloyd Cueto won election.
Judge G. Michael Prall of the 11th Judicial Circuit in Bloomington was selected to preside over the matter after the Illinois Supreme Court granted the Record's motion for a supervisory order. Prall dismissed the suit with prejudice in April 2008.
The Record was granted the dismissal on the basis of the Innocent Construction Rule.
In his opinion, Prall wrote, "The court finds there is a reasonable non-defamatory construction of the defendant's article and the defendant's complaint is dismissed with prejudice."
Cueto, who was disbarred in 2004, is representing himself pro se. He was convicted on conspiracy and obstruction of justice charges in 1997 and served six years in federal prison.
The Record is represented by Steve Pflaum of McDermott Will and Emery in Chicago.