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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Saturday, November 10, 2007

'Dog's' target may sue for slander

Advertiser News Services

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Duane "Dog" Chapman.

LUCY PEMONI | Dog Corp via AP

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Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Conan O'Brien

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Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Oprah Winfrey

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Duane "Dog" Chapman's apology apparently isn't enough.

Monique Shinnery is planning to sue the Hawai'i-based bounty hunter for slander, according to the National Enquirer.

Chapman, 54, has apologized to blacks and to all Americans for repeatedly using a racial slur during a March phone call to his son, Tucker, urging him to break up with Shinnery, who is black.

The recent Web release of the recorded conversation by the National Enquirer led the A&E television network to put Chapman's reality show indefinitely on hold.

"I want justice," Shinnery said in a report posted yesterday on the Enquirer's Web site. "He has slandered me, stated that I have bad character and repeatedly lied about me on national television. If I'm ever going to hold my head up in public again, I need to stand up for what is right."

Chapman, who had issued a written apology, has denied being a racist and said he used the "n-word" conversationally when talking to black acquaintances.

In the interview Tuesday with Sean Hannity on Fox News' "Hannity & Colmes" show, Chapman specifically apologized to Shinnery. But she told the Enquirer that Chapman's attorney, not the TV star, called with an apology.

STALKING SUSPECT FOUND FIT FOR TRIAL

NEW YORK — A priest accused of stalking Conan O'Brien was found fit to stand trial yesterday, although his lawyer acknowledged he has been treated for psychological problems.

The judge issued the ruling after a court-appointed psychologist examined the Rev. David Ajemian of the Archdiocese of Boston. State Justice Abraham Clott also ordered him held on $2,500 cash bail.

Ajemian's attorney, Eric Seiff, agreed the priest was fit for trial. But Seiff said Ajemian had been taking medication and has been treated for a year for psychological problems.

Ajemian, 46, was arrested last week while trying to enter a taping of "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" in New York City despite being warned to stay away by NBC security.

Ajemian, who allegedly began writing O'Brien in September 2006, has been placed on leave by the Boston Archdiocese and can't minister publicly.

OPRAH SCHOOL HEAD DENIES ALL

The former headmistress of Oprah Winfrey's school for girls in South Africa is defending her reputation.

Winfrey had announced that she would not renew Nomvuyo Mzamane's contract because she had participated in a campaign to keep the talk-show host from learning about allegations of abuse at the school. A dormitory matron is accused of sexually assaulting and abusing students.

"Contrary to reports, I had no knowledge of abuse. I did not and would never participate in any such cover-up," Mzamane said in a statement issued by her lawyer in this country.

The $40 million Leadership Academy for Girls opened in January outside Johannesburg to provide girls from disadvantaged backgrounds a quality education.