Lawyer Can Sue Mobster for Defamation

An Illinois Supreme Court ruling today allows a lawyer to claim he was defamed by a former mobster who wrote a tell-all book about crime in Chicago.

Defense attorney Patrick Tuite claims that the book "Double Deal: The Inside Story of Murder, Unbridled Corruption, and the Cop Who Was a Mobster" accuses him of taking Mafia money to fix a case in 1985.

Lower courts ruled that author Michael Corbitt's depiction of Tuite in the book could be viewed innocently -- that the Mafia hired Tuite because of his legal skills. But the Supreme Court says the passage about Tuite must be viewed in the context of the book. It's about Corbitt's career in the mob while serving as police chief of suburban Willow Springs.

The case goes back to circuit court for defamation proceedings.