TV & VIDEO - Sept. 9, 1987

Motions by NBC to overturn a record $22.8-million libel judgment won by entertainer Wayne Newton will be decided in about a month, said Judge Myron Crocker of Las Vegas Superior Court. Crocker said he plans to read the 7,000 pages of trial testimony and make a decision on the NBC motions “in 30 days, maybe 35 days.” Attorneys for both sides argued their cases Thursday and Friday while Newton looked on from a front-row seat. NBC attorney Floyd Abrams warned the judgment, if upheld, would have “an effect that is harmful to the press.” Newton’s attorney, Morton Galane, however, said Newton should be paid the full amount a jury awarded him last December.