Stephen King: Not Guilty

By Stephen M. Silverman

08/28/1997 at 12:00 AM EDT

Horror writer Stephen King's novel "Desperation" was not "a particularly good read," U.S. District Judge David Hurd decided, but it didn't plagiarize a college teacher's work, the jurist even more importantly -- as far as King was concerned -- concluded. Christina Starobin, an adjunct professor at New York's Ulster Community College, filed the suit against the prolific author, claiming her unpublished 1995 manuscript called "Blood Eternal" was similar to the King work. The judge disagreed and dismissed the case.