Defamation suit settled out of court

YAKIMA, Wash. -- Ron Bonlender's defamation lawsuit against Rick Ensey, the candidate who wrested away his Yakima City Council seat, has been settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.

Bon-
lender sued Ensey and his wife, Diane, immediat-ely after losing his council seat in 2007. He accused the Enseys of using a political blog written anonymously by Diane Ensey to smear him by posting unfounded rumors of drunken driving.

The suit was settled Tuesday following a lengthy mediation session in Seattle and averted the need for a civil trial set for next month in Yakima County Superior Court.

In addition to the undisclosed cash figure, the Enseys also agreed to issue a brief public apology. Both sides also agreed not to disparage each other in interviews with the news media on the subject of the lawsuit.

Ensey, who is entering his second year on the council, said Wednesday a confidentiality provision requested by Bonlender prevented him from saying how much money changed hands.

"It is what it is," he said of the settlement, adding, "I'm just happy it's over with, and I'm sure he's happy it's over with. I've put it out of my head and I'm moving forward."

Bonlender acknowledged that he signed a confidential agreement but said he would have no problem releasing the figure, which he described as "substantial," if Ensey wanted to.

"He can say what the amount is if he wants to," Bonlender said.

The settlement comes on the heels of several pretrial decisions that had not gone in the Enseys' favor. Their request for a change of venue was turned down, then a judge refused to throw out the case on summary judgment.

On her now-defunct blog InsideYakima.com, Diane Ensey was writing under the pseudonym "Publius" and in a post on Oct. 4, 2007, she recounted a conversation with a friend. In it, she said the friend had relatives who believed Bonlender had been arrested several times for drunken driving and that it was being covered up by the police, city officials and the Yakima Herald-Republic.

In a court hearing last November, the Enseys' lawyer, Nancy T. McKinley, argued that the blog post was protected free speech and that public figures like Bonlender have to prove malice, not just indifference to truth.

McKinley said Diane Ensey meant only to make the point that the Democratic activist was subject to the same kind of mudslinging that Democrats used against Rep. Charles Ross, R-Naches, during the 2006 campaign when both men were running for a 14th District House seat.

During that race, Democrats publicized a 1998 DUI arrest of Ross, who later pleaded guilty to an amended charge of first-degree negligent driving.

"There was a rumor (about Bonlender). She discussed the rumor," McKinley told the court.

But Bonlender's attorney, Blaine Tamaki, countered that a jury was better suited than a judge to determine context.

Not only was Diane Ensey blogging anonymously about her husband's political opponent, Tamaki noted, it had since come out in pretrial testimony that the source of the alleged DUI rumor were her own
in-laws.

The judge sided with Tamaki and refused to dismiss the case.

* Chris Bristol can be reached at 577-7748 or cbristol@yakimaherald.com.

The Enseys' apology

"Dear Mr. and Mrs. Bonlender: Diane truly regrets writing the blog post to the extent that it cast doubt on Mr. Bonlender's character. We apologize to Mr. and Mrs. Bonlender for any distress this may have caused them. Rick and Diane Ensey"