who was the attorney for richard jewell

by Liana Feest Sr. 9 min read

Lin Wood rose to prominence after representing Richard Jewell, who was falsely accused of perpetrating the 1996 Centennial Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta, and he subsequently represented clients in high-profile defamation cases.

Who is the lawyer for the Damned in Richard Jewell?

Wood's representation of Richard Jewell inspired Dan Rather to call him the "attorney for the damned", and helped transform Wood from a personal injury lawyer to a nationally known defamation lawyer.. He is portrayed in the 2019 film Richard Jewell by Sam Rockwell.

Who is Richard Jewell's lawyer Lin Wood?

Lin Wood, a defamation lawyer who represented Jewell in lawsuits filed against The Journal-Constitution and other media outlets for defamation, spoke out against the movie’s portrayal of Scruggs. "I handled Richard Jewell's case against AJC for 16 years,” he tweeted.

How many lawyers did Jerry Jewell have?

Jewell actually had several lawyers. In fact, he had an entire team. In addition to Bryant, he had a legal team including Lin Wood, Wayne Grant, Jack Martin, Richard Rackleff, and Watson's brother Bruce, according to Slate.

What happened to Richard Jewell's case against AJC?

Lin Wood, a defamation lawyer who represented Jewell in lawsuits filed against The Journal-Constitution and other media outlets for defamation, spoke out against the movie’s portrayal of Scruggs. "I handled Richard Jewell's case against AJC for 16 years,” he tweeted. "By the time the case ended, Richard & Ms. Scruggs had both passed away.

image

How much money did Richard Jewell get?

$500,000They probably have enough to arrest him right now, probably enough to prosecute him, but you always want to have enough to convict him as well. There are still some holes in this case." Even though NBC stood by its story, the network agreed to pay Jewell $500,000.

How did Richard Jewell meet his lawyer?

(NBC News, CNN and the New York Post eventually settled lawsuits filed by Jewell.) “I met Bobi when I went down to shoot in Atlanta and we spent quite a few hours together,” says Bates, who has earned a Golden Globe nomination for supporting actress for her performance.

Is Kathy Scruggs a real person?

Richard Jewell, an American security guard and a police officer got entangled in a web of investigation and media trial after he became a suspect in the investigation. Another such figure was Kathy Scruggs, who was a reporter at Atlanta Journal-Constitution at the time of the bombing.

What happened to Richard Jewell after the bombing?

Richard Jewell, hero security guard wrongly accused as Olympic bombing suspect, dies. Richard Jewell, the hero security guard turned Olympic bombing suspect, dies at age 44 of natural causes at his Georgia home.

Is the movie Richard Jewell accurate?

As strange as this sounds, the Richard Jewell true story confirms that it is accurate. His tummy trouble comes straight from Marie Brenner's 1997 Vanity Fair profile of Richard Jewell, titled "American Nightmare: The Ballad of Richard Jewell".

How did Richard Jewell get cleared?

In October 1996, after exhaustive probes suggested Richard Jewell could not have planted the bomb based on his whereabouts that night, the U.S. Justice Department formally cleared him as a suspect in the Centennial Park bombing investigation.

Did Richard Jewell sue the media?

After being cleared in the fall of 1996, Jewell sued or threatened suit against several media companies for DEFAMATION. They included ABC, NBC, CNN, the New York Post, NBC anchor Tom Brokaw, and a local Georgia radio station. Initially, he was successful.

Did Richard Jewell have a wife?

Dana JewellRichard Jewell / Wife

Is Richard Jewells mother still alive?

While Richard died in 2007 from heart failure, his mother is still alive. She even attended the premiere for “Richard Jewell” in Los Angeles in November and was photographed holding hands with Bates, UPI reported.

Did Richard Jewell ever marry?

Dana Jewell, who met and married Richard after the 1996 Olympics bombing, says Richard was left paranoid, scared and heartbroken by what happened in Atlanta.

Did Richard Jewell sue the media?

After his ordeal, Jewell sued or threatened to sue ABC, CNN, NBC, the New York Post and the AJC/Cox for defamation, as well as his former employer, Piedmont College, which he said gave false information about him to newspapers and the FBI. Everyone settled except for the AJC, which held its ground.

Who was the female reporter in Richard Jewell?

AJC ace Kathy Scruggs broke the story that made Richard Jewell a household name. It also started her downward spiral. A crowd gathers on July 30, 1996, in Centennial Olympic Park during a memorial service for the victims of the bomb explosion.

Who is Jewell's lawyer?

Well, what differs from reality is the movie’s portrayal of Bryant as Jewell’s one and only lawyer. Jewell actually had several lawyers. In fact, he had an entire team. In addition to Bryant, he had a legal team including Lin Wood, Wayne Grant, Jack Martin, Richard Rackleff, and Watson's brother Bruce, according to Slate.

Who was Jewell's former employer?

Wood said that following the presser, he primarily led the law team as they filed multiple libel lawsuits against the media and Piedmont College, Jewell's former employer who spoke unfavorably about him in the media.

How long did it take for Jewell to be cleared?

He's consistently loyal to him and in the end, his tenacity pays off as Jewell is cleared as a possible suspect after 88 days of intense scrutiny.

How long did Wood fight for Jewell?

Wood said he continued fighting for Jewell in a lawsuit against the Atlanta Journal-Constitution for 16 years. The final five years of that battle were conducted after Jewell died in 2007. Both Wood and Bryant attended Jewell's funeral. Bryant spoke and Wood was asked to give the eulogy, according to Wood.

When was Jewell exonerated?

Jewell was formally exonerated in 2005, two years before his death, when the real bomber Eric Rudolph was convicted. Editor's note: This story has been modified to reflect that Wood and Grant joined Jewell's legal team the day before a press conference was held to announce that Jewell passed a polygraph test.

When is Richard Jewell screening?

Watson Bryant Jr. attends the "Richard Jewell" Atlanta Screening at Rialto Center of the Arts on December 10, 2019. Photo: Getty Images.

Who hired Martin in Jewell case?

Watson hired Martin within a few days of taking on Jewell, case, Wood told Oxygen.com. Martin was a specialist in handling federal criminal cases. At that point, Martin became the lead criminal defense lawyer and Bryant operated as more of the public spokesperson lawyer and friend to Jewell, according to Wood.

Who represented Richard Jewell in the lawsuit?

In a thread on Twitter on Thursday night, Lin Wood, the prominent defamation lawyer who represented Jewell in lawsuits against The Journal-Constitution and other media organizations, joined the movie's critics. Referring to the newspaper by its commonly used nickname, Wood wrote: "I handled Richard Jewell's case against AJC for 16 years.

What was the center of the vilification of Jewell?

Wilde also said in her Twitter thread that Scruggs was at the center of the "brutal and unjust vilification" of Jewell and that the film centered on the tragedy of the accusations against him.

Who played Kathy Scruggs in Richard Jewell?

Olivia Wilde as Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Kathy Scruggs in the movie 'Richard Jewell.'. Warner Bros. The attorney for Richard Jewell, who came under suspicion in the 1996 Olympic Park bombing before he was exonerated, criticized the movie "Richard Jewell" on Thursday night, calling its depiction of a reporter at the center ...

Who slept with the FBI agent?

The movie, directed by Clint Eastwood, strongly suggests that the reporter, Kathy Scruggs of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, slept with an FBI agent to get information on the investigation. Many journalists have strongly criticized the portrayal as perpetuating a pernicious and false stereotype that some female journalists trade sex ...

Where is Alex Johnson?

Alex Johnson is a reporter and editor for NBC News based in Los Angeles.

Did NBC News settle Jewell's lawsuit?

In 2011, the Georgia Court of Appeals ruled for the newspaper, which had refused to negotiate a settlement of Jewell's lawsuit. Other news organizations, including NBC News, settled similar cases, generally for undisclosed sums and with the assertion that they stood by their reporting.

Did Richard Jewell's lawyer say Kathy Scruggs traded sex for tips?

Richard Jewell's lawyer agrees the movie smeared Atlanta newspaper reporter. "There was NO evidence to support a storyline" that Kathy Scruggs traded sex for tips about Richard Jewell, his attorney tweeted. "We never made such a false & damning claim.".

When did Jewell's lawsuit against the AJC get dismissed?

Jewell’s lawsuit against the AJC was dismissed in 2011 after the Georgia Court of Appeals concluded the articles they published were true at the time. Scruggs died in 2001 at the age of 42 from an overdose of prescription pain pills, according to Poytner.

How did Jewell die?

Jewell died in 2007 at the age of 44. He reportedly had been suffering from health complications stemming from diabetes, the New York Times reported. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously blasted the FBI sex-exchange plot line.

Was Richard Jewell cleared of the FBI?

Jewell was cleared as a suspect by the FBI 88 days after the bombing . Lin Wood, a defamation lawyer who represented Jewell in lawsuits filed against The Journal-Constitution and other media outlets for defamation, spoke out against the movie’s portrayal of Scruggs. "I handled Richard Jewell's case against AJC for 16 years,” he tweeted.

What did Wood's representation of Jewell help him to become?

Wood's representation of Jewell helped transform him from a personal injury lawyer to a nationally known defamation lawyer. By 2020, Wood was frequently garnering attention through his promotion of conspiracy theories, both in his capacity as a lawyer and as a political commentator and social media personality.

When was Wood's right to appear revoked?

Based on his actions in election-related cases, Judge Karsnitz ordered Wood to show cause why his right to appear pro hac vice in a Delaware Superior Court defamation case where he was representing Carter Page; Wood's right to appear was revoked on January 11, 2021.

Did Wood's lawsuit fail?

Wood's lawsuit failed on November 19, 2020, when U.S. District Judge Steven Grimberg, who was appointed by Trump, found "no basis in fact or in law" to stop Georgia's certification of its election results at such a late stage, as this would "breed confusion and potential disenfranchisement". The judge ruled that Wood had no legal standing to bring the lawsuit, and had brought the case too late. Wood failed to show that he had been harmed, while his proposal would "harm the public in countless ways".

Did Wood settle with Jewell?

Wood reached monetary settlements from Jewell's employer, CNN, and NBC, while Time published a clarification, but paid no settlement. In 2012, after fifteen years of litigation, the Georgia Supreme Court upheld trial court decisions ruling against Jewell in his libel suit against the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Who represented Jewell in the case of Sandmann?

Wood represented Jewell. And now he’s one of the lawyers for Sandmann.

Who is the lawyer for the dead?

The caller’s name is L. Lin Wood. He’s a famous libel lawyer from Atlanta who’s been called “The Lawyer for the Damned.”

Why did journalists set out to destroy Sandmann?

Journalists set out to destroy Sandmann because the boy was perceived to be a Trump supporter, Wood said.

Who was the security guard who spotted the bomb?

And Jewell, the security guard from the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, spotted a bomb and saved lives. But he, too, was unfairly targeted and shamed by an FBI leaker and the media as the prime bombing suspect. He wasn’t the bomber. The real bomber was Eric Rudolph.

Did Wood discuss the settlement?

Many TV news networks and other news shops have avoided mention of the settlement. Wood would not discuss the terms, which have not been disclosed.

Where was Richard Jewell born?

Before he jolted into the public consciousness, Richard Jewell led a fairly mundane life. He was born Richard White in Danville, Virginia, in 1962, and was raised in a strict Baptist home by his mother, Bobi. When he was four, his mother left his philandering father and soon married John Jewell, who adopted Richard as his own son.

How did Richard Jewell die?

On August 29, 2007, Richard Jewell died from heart disease and complications from diabetes. He was just 44 years old — meaning he had precious little time to enjoy his life after the bombing upended it.

What Happened To Richard Jewell At The 1996 Olympic Park Bombing?

Dimitri Iundt/Corbis/VCG/Getty Images Two people died and hundreds were seriously injured in the Centennial Olympic Park bombing — but Richard Jewell undoubtedly prevented more deaths from happening.

Why was Jewell arrested?

Sometimes Jewell’s overzealousness could get him into trouble. He was once even arrested for impersonating a police officer and placed on probation on the condition that he seek psychological counseling. After wrecking his patrol car and being demoted back to a jailer, Jewell quit the sheriff’s office and found another police job at Piedmont College.

Why did Jewell use the bathroom?

Because of his terrible stomach cramps, Jewell used the closest bathroom, which was off-limits to staff, but the security guard gave him a pass. When he came back to his station near the sound-and-light tower by a music stage, Jewell noticed a group of drunks littering all over it.

Why was Richard Jewell made into a movie?

The infamous case was made into a feature film directed by Clint Eastwood with the eponymous title, Richard Jewell, as a reminder of how rushing to judgment can ruin lives.

Where did Jewell work?

After that, he worked all sorts of odd jobs, from managing a local yogurt shop to working as a jailer at the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office in northeastern Georgia.

image