WWW- Paris Hilton's attorneys say they want a head doctor to examine an actress who is suing the heiress for allegedly planting "vicious lies" about her in the gossip pages.
"She's claiming emotional distress," Hilton attorney Ann Loeb told Courttv.com. "We're seeking a medical examination."
Loeb and partner Larry Stein asked a Los Angeles judge Thursday to stall on setting a trial date so they could gather more details about actress/model Zeta Graff's mental condition and how she came up with a figure of $10 million in damages in her defamation suit.
"Our client has no problem with a medical examination if that's what Hilton wants," Graff's attorney Paul Berra told Courttv.com. "We look forward to this case moving toward trial."
"Fifth Element" actress Graff hit Hilton with a $10 million civil suit last year after she found her name dragged through the gossip pages of the New York Post.
Graff says the club-hopping socialite conspired with her publicist to plant sordid tales about her in the Post after the two had a June 30 run-in at London nightclub Kabaret.
In the July 2 "Page Six" story, anonymous sources claim Graff was restrained by security and escorted from the club after she attacked Hilton in a jealous rage on the dance floor when the heiress walked in with Graff's ex-boyfriend, Paris Latsis, on her arm.
Graff admits in her complaint that the two had a tiff, but says it was Hilton who tapped her on the shoulder and whispered in her ear, "You're a f---ing bitch. I'm going to destroy you."
Hilton and her entourage walked out of the club, Graff said, after a promoter refused Hilton's request to boot Graff out.
Hilton denies the trash-talking allegations and told attorneys in a Nov. 9 deposition that Graff has repeatedly tried to use Hilton's fame and their tenuous link through an ex-boyfriend to generate press for herself.
Hilton said that after the club clash with Graff, she called her former publicist Rob Shuter and instructed him to act low-key if reporters called about the incident.
"I thought for sure Zeta's people were going to call and try to do a whole thing with it," Hilton said in her deposition. "So I was like, in case anyone does, just try to either kill the story, or just say you know what, they were at a club and Paris basically told her she was ugly and old."
But when Graff's attorneys deposed Shuter a month later, the publicist said Hilton was the anonymous source in the Post story and that she gave him explicit details about how Graff should appear in the story she wanted him to leak to the gossip pages editor.
Hilton's attorneys say they are now threatening to file a countersuit against Graff and told Superior Court Judge Gerald Rosenberg Thursday that they are investigating whether Graff recently made defamatory comments about Hilton in the press.
"This is the first I've heard about a possible cross-complaint," Berra told the judge.
Loeb and Stein declined to comment to Courttv.com about specific statements from Graff. They did remark, however, that they believe Hilton has been unfairly treated in the press and her recently released deposition comments have been taken out of context.
"They really are very, very unfairly characterizing things she has said, and I'm disappointed by it," Stein said.
Rosenberg ordered the next hearing for March 2, when he is expected to set a date for Graff and Hilton to meet again, this time in a courtroom.
