Ruling on libel case against Temple professor upheld

A New Jersey appeals court ruled yesterday that a Camden judge correctly threw out a libel suit against a Temple University professor who wrote a book about Philadelphia's underworld in the 1950s and '60s.

Philadelphia crime figure John Berkery sued Allen Hornblum, who teaches urban studies, after he was portrayed as a notable member of the once-powerful K&A Gang, known as the Irish mafia.

Berkery once was able to stop production of Confessions of a Second Story Man: Junior Kripplebauer and the K&A Gang. After it was picked up by a new publisher, Berkery sued in 2006, saying he was defamed on 20 of the book's 273 pages, by being implicated in numerous crimes, including a Camden County murder in 1960.

Berkery had been convicted of distributing 24 pounds of methamphetamines, but said he was not the crime figure Hornblum described as the "main nexus between Irish mobsters and the Mafia." A Camden County judge threw out the case, concluding that Berkery failed to show malice, as needed to prove libel. The Appellate Division of Superior Court agreed. - Barbara Boyer