Blunt wants to combine defamation lawsuit in Cole County

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Gov. Matt Blunt is asking the state Supreme Court to consolidate several defamation claims brought by a former staff attorney into a single case.

Former governor's office attorney Scott Eckersley originally sued Blunt in Jackson County for wrongful firing and defamation.

Last month, a Jackson County judge sent the firing allegation to Cole County and split the defamation claims among Cole, Jackson and Ozark counties and the city of St. Louis.

The judge determined that's where reporters first reviewed the allegedly defamatory information that Blunt's administration provided about Eckersley.

Blunt's attorney wants the Supreme Court to combine the case in Cole County, where Eckersley was fired.