JonBenet Ramsey's brother files defamation suit against CBS

Burke Ramsey is hugged by his father — (Image credit: Barry Williams/Getty Images)

Lawyers for Burke Ramsey, the brother of JonBenet Ramsey, filed a $750 million defamation lawsuit against CBS, saying the network produced a fraudulent documentary that slandered him by accusing him of fatally hitting his sister with a flashlight in 1996. The lawsuit says the producers of the four-hour documentary series, The Case of JonBenet Ramsey, which aired in September, overlooked evidence that proved Burke Ramsey's innocence with a "reckless disregard" for the truth, and used questionable "experts" to support a theory prosecutors dismissed years ago as "ludicrous." An autopsy found that the 6-year-old beauty pageant winner had been strangled and sexually assaulted. CBS declined to comment on the suit.

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.