Judge Throws Out Plagiarism Suit

A plagiarism suit filed against author John Grisham by serial killer Ted Bundy’s lawyer was dismissed Thursday by a federal judge who found the copyright infringement claim to be “meritless.”

Polly Nelson, who wrote “Defending the Devil: My Story as Ted Bundy’s Last Lawyer,” had submitted a lengthy list of “striking similarities” with the Grisham best-seller, “The Chamber.”

“Each tells exactly the same story - the tale of a new lawyer in an establishment law firm who, to meet her or his own personal needs, volunteers to take on the representation of the most notorious killer on death row,” she claimed.

But U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, cast in the unusual role of book reviewer, disagreed.

“An exhaustive examination of both books leads the court to conclude that no reasonable trier of fact could conclude that the two works are substantially similar.”