An Arkansas judge has thrown out a libel suit against THE DIXIE CHICKS filed by the stepfather of the late STEVE BRANCH, who was one of three eight-year-old Arkansas boys murdered in 1993. TERRY HOBBS filed the suit against the band after lead singer NATALIE MAINES posted a letter on the Chicks' website claiming the three men convicted of murdering the boys did not get a fair trail. Hobbs claims Maines was accusing him of being involved in the murders with the website post, as well as an appearance at a 2007 rally in support of the convicted men. 

The letter posted on the Dixie Chicks' site points to evidence tying Hobbs to the murders, but Maines was writing based on actual court documents. Therefore, the judge ruled that Hobbs couldn't establish that Maines knew the statements were false and that she made them with "reckless disregard" for the truth, as required by law for libel.