Berosini saddled with fees

Bill Gang

Tuesday, April 9, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

A second animal rights group that targeted Las Vegas orangutan trainer Bobby Berosini for whipping his performing primates has won a portion of the attorney fees and costs it incurred in court fighting the entertainer.

District Judge Nancy Becker has awarded People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals nearly $370,000 of the $463,650 it cost to defend defamation allegations by Berosini in a highly publicized court trial and subsequent appeal.

Berosini won $3.1 million from a District Court jury, but the state Supreme Court overturned the verdict and ruled in favor of PETA and the Performing Animal Welfare Society.

The high court decision made Berosini, as the loser, liable for the court costs and a portion of the attorney fees of PETA and PAWS in defense of the "unreasonable" claims made by Berosini.

PETA Vice President Ingrid Newkirk called the judge's ruling "a victory" but added, "I can't say it makes us happy because the animals remain in Berosini's care."

Yet she indicated PETA's pursuit of Berosini has been successful in keeping the orangutans from performing each night "so they're not being beaten up every night."

Berosini's wife, Joan Berosini, confirmed after an earlier court decision that everywhere Berosini went to perform, the animal rights activists caused problems.

"We've been absolutely destroyed, emotionally, financially and physically ... and there never has been an animal hurt," she said.

Joan Berosini called PETA and PAWS "terrorist organizations."

Becker already smacked the Berosinis with a bill for nearly $50,000 to cover its expenses in the case that centered on the distribution of a videotape showing the entertainer striking the orangutans with a stick.

Berosini had contended that videotapes surreptitiously shot of him before a 1989 performance at the Stardust's "Lido de Paris" show had violated his privacy rights.

Copies of the videotape made their way to national news programs.

Becker decided 70 percent of the allegations Berosini made against PAWS were unreasonable and 60 percent of the claims against PETA fell into the same category.

The case went to trial in 1992 in District Judge Myron Leavitt's courtroom.

Becker agreed with the Supreme Court that the comments made by PAWS Director Pat Derby and others were "evaluative opinions that are protected against claims of defamation and libel."

In ruling last summer that the video didn't violate Berosini's privacy rights, the high court stated that PETA and PAWS had "merely shown to the world how Berosini treated his animals."

Berosini