RALEIGH, N.C. (CN) - An unsuccessful candidate for Congress defamed the chief of staff of a fellow Republican primary opponent by falsely accusing him of having killed someone in an auto accident, Jason Deans claims in Wake County Court. Deans, former chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry, claims Lance Sigmon posted the defamatory statement on the Sigmon for Congress Web site during the 2008 primary campaign.
Deans claims Sigmon's Web site contained this defamatory posting in March 2008: "Former Chief of Staff Jason Deans, for instance, has a lengthy record of driving violations, and most notably in 1995 in Nash County, Deans was convicted of killing an innocent person in an at-fault motor vehicle accident."
Deans says that's not true, and Sigmon knew it wasn't true when he posted it.
Deans is represented by Thomas Goolsby of Wilmington, N.C.
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