Questions of whether Haywood Smith defamed her childhood acquaintance in her 2003 novel took a backseat Monday to discussions about whether the author of "The Red Hat Club" intentionally destroyed evidence pertinent to the lawsuit against her.
Monday started the second week of testimony in the trial between Smith’s childhood acquaintance, Vickie Stewart, and Smith. St. Martin’s Press, the company that published "The Red Hat Club," also is a defendant in the suit.
The main questions in the trial center on allegations that Smith defamed Stewart and invaded her privacy when she modeled one of "The Red Hat Club’s" main characters, "SuSu," on Stewart’s life experiences.
But now, the jury also will be asked to decide whether Smith intentionally destroyed evidence for the lawsuit when she bought a new computer and got rid of the one she used to write the book.
Judge Charles Wynne already has ruled that Smith committed spoliation, or destroyed evidence relevant to the case. At the end of the trial, the jury will have to decide whether Smith did so in bad faith and with knowledge that a lawsuit was pending. Jurors also will have to decide whether the loss of the files on that computer put Stewart’s attorneys at a disadvantage and what sanctions should be given as a result of the charge.
Smith’s attorneys say she purchased a new computer in 2003 when her old one was malfunctioning. When questioned Monday, Smith said it was cheaper for her to purchase a new computer than to repair her old one. She said she transferred "anything of any import whatsoever" from that computer to her new one.
Smith’s attorneys provided a sales receipt for her new computer, which was shipped two months before her book was published in September 2003.
Smith said she began using the new computer immediately, and stored her old one in a barn behind her house in Buford. Smith said the computer was either given to Goodwill or sold in a yard sale when she moved to Boston in 2004.
Stewart’s attorneys claim Smith already had been put on notice about the lawsuit in December 2003 and that Smith should not have gotten rid of the computer on which she wrote "The Red Hat Club."
The book, set in Atlanta, is the story of five women who have been friends for more than 30 years since high school and team up to get revenge on a philandering husband. The book’s character, "SuSu," has similar physical features and life experiences to Stewart, but is portrayed as a sexually promiscuous alcoholic.
Stewart testified last week that she was hurt by the book when she read it, and that Smith never had permission to use her life experiences in a novel.
"I kept thinking, ‘Why? Why did she do this to me?’" Stewart said.
On Monday, Daniel Menaker, the former executive editor in chief of the Random House Publishing Group and a former senior editor for the New Yorker magazine, testified that writers do not usually get permission from the people who inspire their characters, especially if their work is fiction.
Menaker testified that when he read "The Red Hat Club," he felt the characters were fictional, and that Smith’s editors at St. Martin’s Press did not neglect their duties when they did not check into how closely the book’s characters were modeled on real people.
Smith testified that the "SuSu" character was based on "so many women" she knew.
"Your characters are composites," Smith said. "They’re kind of like quilts..."
Smith said she used some of Stewart’s life experiences because she thought the way Stewart pursued an ex-husband who fled the state to keep from paying a divorce settlement was "brave."
"I never wrote anything to make anybody mad or hurt anybody ever," Smith said. "...I would never intentionally hurt anybody."